Padra's Run
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 1117b through 1259b (alternating days): The Doctor and Rose are pulled into a struggle over a bounty, while at McKinley, Sugar Motta connects with a strange new teacher. - Sequel to You'll Find Wonder
1. A Strange Thing On The Way

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 53rd cycle. Now cycle 54!_

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_**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Siren Call, chapter 2._

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**"Padra's Run"  
Doctor Who: 9th Doctor, Rose  
Glee: Sugar, Ginny (OC)  
Doctor Who/Glee crossover  
Prequel to "You'll Find Wonder"**

**1. A Strange Thing On The Way**

_On the Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104_

He had promised her a trip to see this place as soon as he'd mentioned the name and he'd seen curiosity flash across her eyes. After the mess that had been their journey with Adam, now of the great big forehead aperture, he wanted to give Rose something beautiful and fun. So without telling her exactly where they were going, he had pulled and pressed at the TARDIS controls, and with a big shudder they were off. She would ask where they were going, and he would tell her about the benefits of patience. Still, seeing how she was excited no matter what, he had to smile.

When the rattling had come to a stop, Rose had looked to him, wondering, and he had indicated the door. She grinned, dashing up to the doors and pulling them open.

"Where are we?" she asked, breathing in. Her eyes took in the marketplace, the people going about, the skies… "No, hold on… It's the Jade Moon, isn't it?"

"The Great Jade Moon," he corrected her as he moved up behind her and ushered her out so he could shut and lock the door. "There's a difference."

"There's a Jade Moon that's not great?"

"And they're terribly bitter about it." At the not too far sound of a horn, he laughed. "Just as I thought, come on," he took Rose's hand and pulled her down the narrow street.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Just wait," he instructed, like he was scolding an impatient child.

"Alright," she frowned, though at the same time she was so taken with everything she saw that she couldn't stay annoyed at him for very long.

The Doctor had led her along until they had landed at what looked, at least to Rose, to a great big football field, with rows of spectators casting a wall along one end. In the middle of the field, four clusters of people stood waiting. She wanted to ask if those were teams, but since she had apparently reached her quota for questions at the moment, she waited for him to open up the conversation again.

"Great game, Quartos," the Doctor nodded as they found a place to stand.

"Quartos?" Rose repeated, then thinking and understanding, "Oh, because of the four teams?"

"Yes, precisely," he bowed his head and she grinned, looking back to the field just as the players went into position. A man came up with three balls in a net bag. With the balls set in a triangle at the center of the field, the man stood back, held his hand in the air, and then brought it down in a flash, which was the signal for the players to start moving, while he retreated.

"How does it work?" Rose asked the Doctor, eyes glued on the field. With so many players in different uniforms, it was hard to know where to turn her attention at first.

"You'll get the hang of it, trust me," he told her, so she trusted his assessment.

At game's end, the Doctor and Rose had followed the teams off to the local inn for a celebration. All four teams went, two of them winners and the others losers, but all went. It turned out the Doctor knew the Captain and a handful of the players from one of the two losing teams, and Rose couldn't help but be taken along in the energy of it. Even as losers, they looked proud, and they went along laughing the whole way. When they reached the inn, they were as rowdy as ever, and for a moment Rose could feel as though she was back home.

"Marella's Inn," Rose read off the sign outside the door. "Try all twelve of our Jade Waters."

"They've added two," he pointed, and Rose smirked. When they walked in, the teams had mixed and scattered across the place. It wasn't massive in size, but it was still bigger than she would have expected. Soon they were approached by a woman Rose guessed would have to be… "Marella, great seeing you again," the Doctor greeted her.

"Doctor," she greeted him back. "Thought we might be seeing you tonight."

"Can't pass up a great game of Quartos," he admitted, and Marella laughed.

"Didn't think you could. And you've brought a friend," she spotted Rose at his side.

"Yes, Rose Tyler, meet Marella," he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Rose waved with a smile. "It's a great place," she complimented.

"Marella has been running the inn for, oh, what is it now, fifty-two years?" the Doctor asked.

"Fifty-four," Marella corrected, and Rose was amazed. The woman didn't look nearly old enough to even be fifty-four, much less to have run an inn for that long. "But who keeps count anymore. Please, sit, I'll be with you in a moment," she carried on, leaving the Doctor and Rose to find a table.

"What's Jade Water?" Rose asked. "And how is it there are twelve?"

Before the Doctor could ask, a tremor took over the room, making the glassware rattle. He became alert, looking to Rose, looking around the room. But then just as soon as it had begun, the rattling stopped. The patrons' voices mixed in a collective confusion as to what had happened, only to have the answer come through the door. They had heard the approach of boots before the door was pushed open and in marched a row of creatures Rose had never seen. They all wore black, their uniform consisting of something like a leather fringed skirt, body armor, and a massive helmet. When the creature at the front removed that helmet, Rose's eyes grew wide as she found it had a head like a rhinoceros.

"Doctor?" she asked, and he put his hand to her arm, which was as good as telling her not to stand.

"It's alright," he promised her.

"Doctor, who are they?" she asked, sensing he knew.

"Judoon."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	2. The New Girl In Town

**"Padra's Run"**

**2. The New Girl In Town**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

In the end, she supposed that she had gotten what she wanted from the start. She was now a member of New Directions. It had followed a rejection from them, the creation of the Troubletones and their consequent defeat at Sectionals, but now here she was, Sugar Motta, one of them.

On that day, her first class was home economics, or at least it was supposed to be. The word going around was that their teacher was out sick and there was presently no one available to give the class. Had she known this, Sugar would probably have stayed in bed just a little while longer. She was thinking, at the very least, she could skip out and go get herself a coffee, better than what McKinley had to offer, and so she had turned to do that. And then she'd seen her.

The woman came down the hall, and one almost had to work by process of elimination to guess that she might be a teacher. When Sugar had seen her, all she could say was that she looked odd, and that was saying something coming from her. She looked like she was locked in her own world, perhaps due to the fact that it was her first time in this place. Dark brown hair swept over shoulder and that cautious shuffle she had adopted definitely didn't fill her with any sort of authority, and it was of Sugar's opinion that she would get eaten alive in this place. With a sigh, she abandoned her coffee plans. If she really was a teacher, perhaps even her substitute for home economics, then she wasn't about to miss that.

X

It had been with a few missed turns and the help of the football coach that she had found her way to the principal's office. His secretary had made her sit outside his office, and so she did, her bag balanced on her knees as she took a deep breath or two. This needed to go smoothly. She looked to her watch, sighed as she wondered if she should just…

"He'll see you now," the woman had returned, and she stood, giving her a smile before continuing on into the inner office. She approached with her hand outstretched, and the man met her handshake.

"Principal Figgins?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yes. You're…"

"Ginny Harrison, I'm your new substitute teacher," she presented him with the papers, which he barely scanned.

"You are, well… yes, excellent," he bowed his head and she put the papers away. From what she knew, he was not one to question anything too closely, and now she had confirmation. "You'll be… stepping in for our home economics teacher, is that right?" he asked, moving to retrieve a set of keys and a folder.

"Home economics… yes," Ginny confirmed, slipping her winning smile back on once he turned back to her, hiding the hesitation that had taken her over a moment ago.

"Leave your information with the secretary on your way out, and… Well, here you are," he gave her folder and keys before sitting back at his desk with a look that told her they were done. She gave him her thanks before walking out of the office, back into the hall. Just like that, she had her walking orders.

She was entirely aware that, to anyone who looked at her for too long, there might be something that didn't track. They wouldn't know what it was and, really, if they did figure it out, then they deserved a medal, but if it came that this challenged her position at McKinley, then it wouldn't matter what they did and didn't know. She had things to do, and those things required that she remain at…

Her train of thought was promptly derailed when a student bumped into her hard enough to send her bag shooting down the hall. "Watch where you're going!" she hadn't intended to shout, but then there it was, and she froze, seeing a good dozen pair of eyes turn on her. She took a breath, fixing the boy with a glare. "You could hurt someone," she had her voice back in control.

"Sorry," he frowned and went on his way. Remembering her bag, her eyes darted to find it and she saw another student approaching and about to pick it up.

"No, it's alright, I got it," she was faster, managing to grab hold of her bag before he could reach it.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked. "Those guys walk around like there's no one else there."

"I'm fine," she promised. "Shoulder might be sore for a bit, but I'll get over it, thank you. As first days go, it could have been worse."

"Oh, you're…"

"Substitute teacher. Home economics," she revealed.

"I've got that later today," he volunteered, and she smiled.

"Guess I'll see you then…"

"Finn," he replied. "Hudson." She smiled on, bowing her head.

"Nice to meet you. Ginny Harrison," she introduced herself right back.

"See you later, Miss Harrison," he told her, moving along, and she watched him go up to a dark-haired girl who was coming down the hall. She watched them for a beat before turning away and looking down to her folder.

As much as she liked to think she was ready for this, she knew deep down she wasn't, not completely. She had arrived, had barely had time to settle in, and now here she was, about to give her first class… well, ever. This would all take some time, but she already knew that. She had favors to return.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	3. Padra

_**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Siren Call, chapter 9__._

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**"Padra's Run"**

**3. Padra**

_On the Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104 – Marella's Inn_

The run of voices in the inn had gone quiet with the entrance of the Judoon. There was absolutely no doubt that they were there on official business, and until they knew what that business was, the safest thing to do was to do nothing at all. The unmasked Judoon stepped forward. "Attention, all present here. This establishment will be searched under suspicion of harboring a fugitive. Every individual will submit to questioning or face sentencing. Prepare to be interrogated," he addressed the people inside the inn before signalling the others standing behind him to begin their search.

"Hey, watch it!" a man tripped his way forward, looking over his shoulder. Rose recognized him as being from one of the two Quartos winning teams.

"Who do you suppose they're looking…" she had turned to the Doctor. When she did, she saw that he was looking past her, and she discreetly followed his gaze to find he was staring at Marella. The innkeeper looked worried all of a sudden, though she tried not to appear as such to the Judoon. Whatever they were looking for, either she knew what and where it was, or she had something just as bad if not worse she wouldn't want found during the search. "Doctor?" Rose whispered back to him, and he looked to her. "What do we do?"

"Sorry, excuse me," he stood, raising his voice enough to be heard, and instantly all the Judoon turned toward him. "Hello," he waved, and the unmasked Judoon moved forward.

"Identify yourself."

"I'm the Doctor…" he started, and the Judoon raised a small sort of tube toward him. The thing gave off a light and a sound sort of like a scan.

"No trace," he declared.

"Yes, good," the Doctor confirmed. "Now, tell me, who exactly has sent you here? What evidence is there that this so-called fugitive will be found here?"

"That is classified."

"Well, that's a shame. Unfortunately, I think you'll find your information has misled you. This establishment, it so happens, has already been cleared, see?" he pulled the psychic paper from his pocket, presenting it. "All in order." The Judoon observed the paper for a solid minute, and Rose was starting to think he could tell there was not a single word of what the Doctor claimed to be on that paper. But then, it stood down.

"We will return," he declared, and then, with his helmet back on his head, he led his platoon out. Once they were gone, the Doctor turned back to Rose.

"That's what we do," he told her, and she let out a breath, as did the rest of the people in the inn.

"It's alright, everyone," Marella addressed her patrons. Slowly the voices returned, a buzz of questions wondering what had just happened, and who or what it was that the Judoon were searching for. "A round of Jade Water, on the house," she declared, rousing more voices in thanks. When the Doctor approached her, she just turned away and started filling glasses. "Thank you, but that wasn't necessary."

"Wasn't it?" he asked.

"If you want to make yourself useful, help me take these out," she nodded to the filled glasses.

"I can do that," Rose offered herself, leaving the Doctor able to talk with his old friend while she brought out the glasses to one table, returned for more and carried on.

"Marella, talk to me," the Doctor wasn't about to be turned away.

"You don't want to know," she insisted.

"Sure I do, I'm full of curiosity," he told her, and she scoffed.

"Not in this case."

"They will return, and next time I won't be able to hold them off. Whatever it is you're hiding, they'll find it, and if they realize you're involved, they will execute you. I can help, so let me." She had been keeping busy, filling the glasses, but she had finished now, and as Rose returned from her last haul, she found the woman was standing still. Eventually, she stepped out from behind the bar, discreetly gesturing for the two of them to follow her.

"I suppose if there's anyone I'll trust with this, it'll be you," she spoke as she stopped at a door in the back. "What about you, Miss Tyler, can I trust you?" she turned to Rose.

"Yes, I swear," Rose nodded, looking to the Doctor.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it to her," he vouched for her as well.

"Good, you might have better luck with her there," Marella told him, and the statement would remain unclear for now, as the innkeeper opened the door and let them in, shutting it behind her.

"The Judoon, what are they looking for?" the Doctor asked.

"Well… I imagine they'll be looking for Padra." She sighed, like as much as she trusted the Doctor and this girl she had met only minutes ago, she knew there was no turning back once she unveiled what she was hiding. "I wouldn't have gotten caught up in this mess if it wasn't for… Listen, whatever you do, promise me you'll be cautious."

"Have you known me to be anything else?" the Doctor asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" she responded right back. After one last pause, she had reached under a panel in the wall, and then under Rose's surprised eyes, a square in the ground began to divide up, slide away, and it revealed a small door. Marella crouched down, pressing her hand in the corner of the door, and it gave a click, releasing so she could pull it open. When she did, the Doctor and Rose stepped forward to look inside.

Inside, they found a child, a girl, of no more than five or six years old, with a head of dark hair and frightened eyes. Marella didn't have to say it. This was Padra. This was who the Judoon were looking for.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	4. A Pressing Need

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Midnight Cake__._

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**"Padra's Run"**

**4. A Pressing Need**

_The Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104 - Marella's Inn_

Rose crouched by the open trap door, careful not to spook the girl. "It's alright," she spoke softly. "Padra, was it?" she asked, and the girl nodded. "My name is Rose. This is the Doctor. You can come out now," she held her hand out. The girl looked to Marella, who gave her a nod, and after a moment more she put her hand out. Rose helped her out and soon Padra stood before her.

"Hello," the Doctor gave her a smile.

"Hello," she replied.

"I need to speak with Marella for a moment. Do you mind staying with Rose here?" She shook her head. "Right then, won't take too long," he promised before moving aside with his old friend. Rose turned back to Padra. She didn't look mistreated, or underfed, or like she had ever lacked in anything. Her hair had been done in one braid running down her back, her clothes were simple, a dress, a jacket, little brown boots...

"How old are you? Five? Six?" Rose asked.

"Six," Padra answered. "How old are you?" she had followed, and Rose smiled, pleased to see she was warming up to her.

"I'm nineteen," she replied. Padra observed her.

"You're human like me," she stated.

"That's right, I am." Padra smiled, and in that instant Rose knew the girl had started to trust her. She also knew she didn't want to let her down on that trust. "How long did you hide in there?" Rose asked, and looking back into the hole she could see there was food and a blanket and pillow… She would have been kept comfortable.

"Marella made me hide before people came from the game. I wanted to stay but she said too many people would be there and I could get lost."

The Doctor watched Rose and the girl. They looked sweet together, and he could see how this would all turn out already, though he still needed to get to the bottom of it. He looked to Marella, who was still keeping an eye on the girl, even when she was being looked after.

"Where is her family?" he asked her.

"I never met them, I don't know," Marella shrugged.

"Then how did she get here?"

"She had a caretaker. They took a room, they were here for two days and I never saw her. I assumed he was here on his own. He would come down, bring food up to the room. I would offer to have it taken up for him, but he would insist on coming on his own. One morning he asked to see me up in his room. That's when I met Padra. That's when she was put in my care."

"What about the caretaker?" Now Marella turned away from Rose and Padra; she didn't want the girl hearing.

"That morning, he said he needed to go and find them transport… somewhere, he never said. He told me that, while he was gone, people might come looking for the girl, that no one could take her away from here and that if need be I should hide her. He…" she looked back again. "He also said there was a possibility they would find him first, and if that was the case then he would eliminate himself rather than ever leading them back to her. He was supposed to be gone for a few hours at the most."

"How long's it been?" the Doctor asked.

"A week. These Judoon were not the first, I've had inspections, I've had people being all too curious about my clients, and about every last place on this moon offering shelter both official and off the books has gotten the same treatment. So what do you think happened?"

"They've found him." He paused. "Have you told her?"

"That her caretaker is more than certainly dead? I haven't had the courage to do it," she admitted. "I can't keep her here, not for much longer," she sighed. "But what else am I supposed to do?"

Rose now sat with Padra on the ground, their feet dangling inside the hole which had been her hiding place. This was amusing to the girl, and watching her, the Doctor could see Marella's dilemma. Padra had to know that something was happening around her, but she had been protected from a lot of it, her life and her innocence were protected. Taking her away from here, wherever that led them, some of that would get taken away.

He returned to the girls, sitting and adding his feet in the hole. His long legs moved backward and forward, making the child laugh, and the Doctor smiled. He caught Rose's eye, and she needed to know, what was happening, what Marella had told him…

"Padra?" he spoke, and she looked up. "You came here with your caretaker, is that right?"

"Toh," she nodded.

"That his name?" he asked, and again she nodded. "Alright, so you came with Toh. How long has he been with you?" Padra bit back her lip, like she didn't want to speak, like she knew she shouldn't, and all at once the problem felt bigger because she knew. But then she'd looked to Rose, and she'd turned back to the Doctor, releasing her lip to speak.

"Always. He lives with us."

"Your family," he translated, and she nodded. "Where are they?" he asked, and she clammed up once more, her hand moving to grasp Rose's. Now the blonde looked to her, to how she had bonded herself to her, and she looked back to the Doctor.

"Can we help her?" she was all but begging. She didn't even know why the girl needed help, and he only knew very little, and still she was sensing the same thing he was, that if they left here and did nothing, something would happen to her, something very bad.

"Padra, listen to me," the Doctor spoke now, and she looked to him again. "When Toh left, what did he tell you? He told you to stay here with Marella?" She bowed her head. "Right now though, it is safer for you to come with us. We won't take you if you don't want to go, I promise." She was silent for a moment, thinking, but then she made up her mind.

"I'll go with you."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	5. First Day of School

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: But There Are Worse Things__._

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**"Padra's Run"**

**5. First Day of School**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

There was a handful of empty seats in the home economics class. Some had just not bothered showing up, either before or after they'd found out their teacher was out and they would be taught by a substitute. The others had left after five minutes had gone by and, despite the fact that the bell had rung and the period had started, this substitute had yet to show her face. If no one came soon, there would be more departures.

All of a sudden there was the click of rapid shoes approaching, not just walking but running, and then there she came, stopping at the door, checking the number before peering inside. Seeing the setup of the room it went without saying that this was the home economics class, and after taking a breath and pushing hair from her face, she had tried to salvage what she could of a graceful entrance. All she did get were some laughs, and she frowned.

"Okay… settle down," she blinked, and after a moment the noise died down. "My name is Ginny Harrison, I'll be your substitute teacher this week." Once she'd said this, it seemed she had no idea how to go on. She moved to her desk, put her things down, then she turned back. "What did your teacher have you do in your last class?" she asked. One boy raised his hand and she pointed to him. "Yes?"

"We had to make cookies."

"Alright… Yes, so this is what I want you to do. Pair up, all of you, and you'll make the cookies again. I want you to watch each other in how you work, some of you may have had more trouble than others, this will give you a chance to either get better or help someone," she nodded. The class stared back at her, confused, unmoved. "Well?" she frowned, and they slowly started to get up, pair up. She smiled, nodding to herself before sitting at her desk, putting her bag at her feet.

As the class worked to reproduce their cookies, she watched them. She'd had no time to prepare, and she could have just made them sit there, studying, doing work, from whatever class they wanted, so long as they were working, but they were the ones who had to look to her for instruction, so she had to give them something practical to do.

Slowly, the cookies were sent to the ovens, and this left her with a roomful of kids sitting there once again with nothing to do. She was going to wait until the end of the period to bring this up, but now that she had time to kill…

"Can I get everyone's attention?" she stood again, straightening her clothes. "Now, as you know, I'm new to your school, but on top of teaching all of you, I'm going to be taking care of a project, and I'm going to need help. I've discussed it with your teacher, and she's agreed to count this as extra credit. It's going to take a few hours over a few days, so if this is going to get in the way of your other responsibilities, please, don't over-extend yourself with this," she shook her head.

"What kind of project?" asked the same boy who had answered her before.

"Cataloguing and organizing books in the library," Ginny answered. "So, any volunteers?" No one moved. "Oh, come on, it'll be fun," she tried to sound more excited. Finally some hands rose in the air. "That's more like it… You," she pointed to the one girl that seemed the most motivated. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Sugar Motta," she put her hand back down. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the work, but she could definitely use the extra credit… Plus, she was oddly intrigued by the woman, so how could she pass up a chance to try and figure out what her deal was?

"Well, Sugar Motta, you've got the 'job,'" Ginny smiled. Once again, the awkward silence got to weighing on them, and Ginny was floundering. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there, and in that moment the whole class would have probably done the same. "While you wait, you should clean up your stations and utensils, put them back in your place," she had finally spoken and when the students had started doing as told, she had let out a breath. Her face said exactly what she was thinking: this was a nightmare, and she was failing miserably.

As time had worn on, with their new task achieved, the class had turned to their substitute to find what they should do next. She was sitting at her desk, eyes closed almost as though she was meditating, something… So they sat in their seats, whispering amongst themselves. Soon some of the cookies were ready and were taken out of the ovens.

Taking her new 'position' very seriously, Sugar had slid one of her freshly baked cookies on to a napkin before coming up to the desk. She hesitated, as Ginny remained silent, eyes shut… "Miss Harrison?" she'd finally spoken, and Ginny's eyes opened so normally that Sugar almost dropped her cookie in surprise.

"Yes?" she asked, and Sugar placed the cookie and its napkin on the desk before her.

"For you," she smiled. Ginny looked around, seeing the cookies all set on the work stations.

"Thank you, I…" she looked at her watch. "Right, let's take a look," she had come to stand and walked around the class, checking out each pair's creations. "Good job, class," she nodded in approval. When the bell rang, she was faster than all of them. "Okay, good period, I'll see you all next time," she nodded, grabbing her bag, folder, keys, and her cookie before walking out.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	6. Child of None

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: From the Ashes, chapter 4__._

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**"Padra's Run"**

**6. Child of None**

_On the Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104_

Rather than having to walk Padra through the streets and risk having her spotted, the Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS, saying he would bring it 'closer.' They hadn't realized this meant 'directly in the back room,' but then there it had come, appearing all blue and bright. Padra had said her goodbyes to Marella, while the innkeeper had looked to the Doctor and his blonde friend, silently bidding them both to take care of the girl. Finally, the Doctor had stepped aside and opened the way for Padra to enter his ship.

The child had taken careful steps up toward the center console, eyes taking in everything around and above her. It wasn't as though she had never seen a ship before. This was something familiar to her, where it had been strange and new to Rose, which they were made to realize as the Doctor approached her, just as proud as he ever was when he would take on a new passenger.

"Do you see, Padra, it's bigger on the inside," he pointed around, and she nodded with a smile, apparently a lesser response than the Doctor was expecting, which made Rose smirk. He caught her doing it, which had earned her a bit of a frown before he had gone and taken them away from the inn and from the Great Jade Moon itself. As they now drifted along space, it was time to speak with the girl and get some more information from her, to figure out their next step. "Here, sit," he indicated the seat, and she went to take her place on it. He sat on the TARDIS floor, next to her.

"Your ears are big," Padra stated, and he bowed his head for a moment.

"Yes, but that's not important right now. You know we need to talk."

"I know," she looked worried, so Rose came and sat by her side.

"Can you tell us why your…" she had started, then paused as she tried to remember the caretaker's name.

"Why was Toh trying to hide you?" the Doctor took over. It took a moment more before Padra lowered her head. "You don't need to be scared…"

"Doctor?" Rose blinked, pulling down the top of the child's jacket, to reveal what she'd thought she saw. He stretched his neck and saw just as she saw. Padra had lowered her head not out of fear but to show them a scar on her upper back. As soon as he saw the mark, his face shifted – he knew what that was, and suddenly he knew much more than he did a moment before. He reached deep in his pocket, pulling out a small flat disc, which he handed to Padra.

"Here, have a look at this, I just need to borrow Rose for a second," he told her, as Padra looked into the disc with amazement. He stood back on his feet, tugging Rose along to go and stand on the other side of the console.

"What?" she asked. "What was that scar?"

"That scar is the mark left behind by a nasty little tool, takes a DNA sample for cataloguing."

"I… I don't understand," Rose shook her head.

"This one in particular would indicate her as merchandise, bought and paid for," he had looked upset, angered, and now it all became much too clear why.

"Bought?" Rose repeated in complete shock, looking back at the girl, so small… "Do you mean for…" she couldn't even bring herself to say it.

"For her sake, I would hope not. But more likely she'd be made to work. Only why would they be so interested in one slave?" he asked himself aloud.

"What about her parents though? Why would they let her… Unless they're dead?"

"I don't think they are," he spoke evenly, "I think they were the ones to sell her." He could sense Rose staring at him, the thought of what he was suggesting being almost too much for her to bear.

He had put everything together, what Marella had told him, what Padra had shown him, and what he had seen for himself… The picture didn't feel complete or straight just yet, it couldn't. There was still a lot of information missing, and some of it he knew… hoped… couldn't be right. The idea that a child like her could have been submitted to this had filled him with a sudden bit of anger and he'd had to take a step back, not wanting to frighten the girl, who was already having to be carted off from one stranger to another. She was being very calm about it, and it told him she was strong… That was good; she would need it. For whatever she did know of her situation, he had to guess whatever they would come across might end up testing that strength.

She had stopped playing with the disc, and now she stared at them from across the way, her eyes telling both the Doctor and Rose that she was all too aware they were talking about her without wanting her to know about it. They had come and rejoined her, sitting as they'd been a minute ago.

"Padra… your parents…" Rose started, and the girl turned to her.

"What about them?" Padra asked.

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"The day I got this," she pointed to her back.

"When was that?" She thought about it, shook her head.

"I don't remember, not how many days it's been, weeks, I think."

"Then let's go back to something you remember," the Doctor took over. "Let's talk about the day you got that scar."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	7. A Life Not Long Ago

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: The Christmas Tale of Marley the Elf, chapter 4__._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**7. A Life Not Long Ago**

_In the TARDIS_

Rose would look to the girl, knowing what she knew and what she didn't know, and as much as they needed to know about her situation, she didn't want this to feel like they were interrogating her, like she might be in trouble. So she had to find a softer way for them to make their approach.

"Can you tell us about your home, your family, what are they like? Do you have any brothers and sisters?" She shook her head.

"Just me and my mother and my father… and Toh."

"What do they do, your parents? What's their job?"

"My father is a teacher, my mother works at the hospital," Padra nodded.

"And Toh, you said he's lived with you for a long time?"

"My parents said three years, since I was three, but I always remember him there. He's my friend," she smiled, then grew quiet again. She had to know something had gone wrong with him, but mentioning it out loud would feel too final, so she couldn't, not yet.

"Your best friend?" Rose smiled, but Padra shook her head. "Oh, who's that then?"

"Nira. She lives near us, and sometimes we pretend we're sisters," she smiled.

"I used to do that, too," Rose confided in her, which pleased the girl. "Now what about… that scar?" she asked, and Padra hesitated.

"They came to take me." Rose looked to the Doctor, who'd been keeping quiet and letting her do the talking. "Dad said I had to be brave, and that it would hurt. They had the big thing with the pointy end. It felt hot, and I cried." She paused, remembering and hating that she had to. Rose kept hold of her hand, to ground her and let her know she was safe.

"Do you remember what they said? The people who came to take you?" she asked. Padra's eyes closed, recalling, then opened again.

"They said that I was… the price. They said that they would get what they asked for."

"A trade," the Doctor spoke for the first time.

"Traded for what?" Rose couldn't help but ask.

"A new school. The old one was destroyed."

"One child's future in return for countless others'…" the Doctor wasn't sure how to respond to this.

"But why would her parents let…" again Rose had spoken out of confusion, and this got a rise out of Padra.

"No," she shook her head.

"Padra, I'm sorry, but…"

"But they didn't let me go," she corrected.

"How's that?" Rose asked. Padra closed her eyes.

X

_The Mercer Colony – 23 days ago_

Padra spent most of her days outside, when she could. She would spend those days with her best friend, Nira, and they would go out exploring. On that day though, her mother had asked that she not go very far, so she had walked the path from her house to Nira's house, and they had gone to the fields. They would run and run until they couldn't run anymore.

She would remember seeing her mother from far away, waving at her, waving so she would return. She didn't want to go and stop playing with her friend, but she had to, so she did, watching Nira run on her way home while she went for her mother. The closer she got to her, the more she could see this look on her face… She was smiling, but she was sad, and worried… She crouched before her, brushing her hair back before taking her hand and leading her back in the house.

There were two men standing with her father. There was something about them that frightened Padra just seeing them, and she'd cowered behind her mother.

"Come forward, child," one of the men had spoken.

"Please, be easy on her," her father had begged.

"Better she get used to taking orders. The transaction is in order, your request granted. Your daughter is the price, if you're not prepared to relinquish her…" the man carried on, completely unmoved. Padra's father looked to her, clinging to her mother's skirts, and he couldn't say a word. "Come forward," the man repeated, and her father had come up to her, gotten down on his knees.

"You have to do as they say now," he nodded, holding his hand to her. After a moment, she had given hers over. "You have to be brave now, alright?" he asked her, looking back, and now she saw the tool in the man's hand, which frightened her again. "I'm not going to lie, it will hurt, but only a moment and it'll be over, okay?" She nodded; she trusted him.

So she had gone up, and he had remained crouched before her, holding her hands as the man swept her hair out of the way and pressed the pointed end at her back. The man had given no warning, and when she felt it, felt it slice like a fine flame, she cried out, squeezing her father's hands. She had briefly collapsed against him, and he had wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry…" he had breathed at her ear. She'd heard her mother's voice then, bringing her back to reality. She'd looked over her shoulder, seeing her there, and she was giving the oddest of looks to the men. There were tears in her eyes, but she was trying to smile.

"Please, can I offer you a drink, I imagine your work is… relentless." The men had shared a look.

"Yes, thank you, much appreciated." Her mother had indicated the table, while her father looked at her, completely baffled. As the men sat, she had made two cups, turning and bringing them over. The effect had been nearly instantaneous, as the men's eyes glazed over, unconscious and yet sitting up in their chairs. As soon as she'd seen this, her mother had moved to retrieve the tool from the man.

"Renna, what are you doing?" her father had stepped up, alarmed.

"What are YOU doing, Peter?" she'd stared back, opening up the thing and pulling out the vial inside. "You know what will happen, how can you even… Please…" she looked to him, begging, and looking to his daughter, her father had needed no further convincing.

"But how are we going to…" he started to ask, while his wife pulled an empty vile and reloaded the tool, presenting it to him.

"Do it," she told him, turning around. He didn't question it, and Padra had trembled to hear her mother's outcry. "Get Toh," she'd told him, taking the tool back and replacing it where she'd found it. The vial with her daughter's DNA had been wrapped in a piece of cloth, which Renna held in her palm, waiting.

"Mom?" Padra had spoken up, for the first time since she'd entered her house with her. Renna had only turned to look at her when Peter returned with Toh.

"Take this," she had handed him the vial. "You need to take Padra away from here, as far as you can, can't let them find her, do you understand? As soon as you get the chance, dispose of the vial."

"I will keep her safe," the alien had vowed, turning to his charge. "Come now, sweet child," he'd picked her up in his arms, and he had taken her from the house without another word. She had panicked, sensing that she wouldn't see her parents for a long time if ever again, but there was nothing to be done against it.

X

As her story had ended, Rose was now sitting with her arm around the girl's shoulders, hoping it brought some sort of comfort. At the very least, to her and the Doctor both, the truth had come to light. Padra's parents had done the right thing when it mattered, and they had sent off their daughter in order to protect her. Now the Doctor had no greater desire than to help her get to where she needed to be. The first step was to return to the place she had called home.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	8. Getting to Know

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Take a Look, chapter 2__._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**8. Getting to Know**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

Sugar had presented herself herself at the library, good and on time, finding that Miss Harrison had yet to arrive. She sat there, playing on her phone for a good ten minutes before the teacher arrived, perpetually out of breath and running to get where she needed to be. Sugar frowned.

"I'm so sorry, I… got lost."

"Must have been pretty far," Sugar put her phone away before standing. Ginny kept from replying, smiling on to the girl.

"Ready to start?"

"How much extra credit am I getting exactly?" Sugar asked, relenting, and Ginny laughed. "Fine then, let's go."

Finally they had begun to work, the first of a few hours. Ginny would show her what they had to do, and Sugar would do it. As they went on, Sugar observed her, watched her.

"You strike me as a girl with a lot of… curiosity," Ginny had spoken before looking over, catching her spying. Sugar blinked, then smiled.

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, and Ginny shook her head. "Where are you from?"

"Oh, all over," she assured, picking up a set of books and moving them on to a trolley.

"How long have you been in Lima?"

"Not long," Ginny replied. "I'm still settling in, got an apartment with almost nothing in it… But I'm getting used to it."

"Have you been to the mall yet? You should go to Breadstix," she recommended.

"Yes, I saw it," Ginny smiled. "Maybe I will go, it would be interesting…"

"So you're by yourself? Or do you have a husband? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?" she tempted slowly.

"Single," the teacher smirked. "I won't bore you with the details." Sugar sat up.

"I'm not bored," she promised. Ginny gave her a look, hesitating. "Please?"

"Fine, I guess if we're going to be spending all this time together, we might as well have something to talk about, pass the time…" Sugar's hands stilled on the books she held. "So long as you keep working," Ginny instructed, and the work resumed, so she sighed, thinking. "If you must know… I did have someone, a boyfriend," she revealed.

"What happened?"

"It ended, it happens…" she bowed her head.

"Did you break up because you moved, or did you move because you broke up?" Ginny cleared her throat, not having expected the barrage of questions.

"Unrelated, but it didn't hurt to have a reason to get away," she breathed. It did dawn on her that they were getting a bit deeper into conversation, and that they could slip into territory she didn't want to enter with the girl. "Okay, my turn," she decided, and Sugar was game, so she went on. "What do you do, besides going to class, obviously. Part of any sports, clubs?"

"I'm in Glee Club," she answered, blinking for a moment like she'd been thinking about something else.

"Oh, yeah, heard about that," Ginny gave her a smile. "You just had a competition, you guys won."

"I didn't win. I was in another group," she revealed.

"Sorry," Ginny told her, and Sugar shrugged.

"We joined them now, so we get to go to Regionals, that's the next competition."

"Do you like it?" she smiled.

"It's… Yeah," she had wanted to come off like she was all cool about it, but she couldn't lie, and a smile crept through, which made Ginny laugh.

"Maybe I'll get to see you guys some time," she suggested, and Sugar nodded.

They had carried on working in silence for a moment after that, making better progress once they could focus on the task at hand. Though she had at least managed to get the teacher talking a bit, Sugar was still curious. She would watch her as they went along, and there was still something that didn't feel right about her, even if she couldn't put her finger on it. Whenever Ginny would get to catch her looking, or Sugar thought she'd catch her, she would hurry to return her eyes to her work.

"Alright," Ginny would finally say, looking to her watch. "I think this is as good of a time as any to stop for the day, yes?" Sugar sat back, nodding. "Go on, then, I'll see you again tomorrow?"

"Right," Sugar agreed, standing. "Can I just say, hope you don't take it the wrong way, but you might want to see about…"

"Not being late?" Ginny guessed, and Sugar nodded. "I probably should," she agreed. With that, Sugar had given her goodbyes and gone on her way.

Ginny watched her go and leave the library before looking back to their table, picking up the books they had last gone through and adding them to the trolley before picking up the rest of their things and putting them in their place.

She was starting to find her pace, being here in the city and the school, although as the girl had rightly called her on her tardiness, that remained something she needed to look after. It wasn't that she meant for it to happen, but certain things were just beyond her control. Walking down the hall, she had looked to her phone, a frown taking her over as she sighed and ran off. It just never ended.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	9. Guise & Disguise

___**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Now Everything Is Different__._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**9. Guise & Disguise**

_In the TARDIS_

The ship had given its fair share of rumblings and sudden jolts as they journeyed off to Padra's home world. For that reason, Rose had spent the whole time sat safely with the girl in her lap, keeping her out of harm's way. Even as she sat and held her though, she could see the Doctor's face as he went about the controls, hitting this and twisting that. There was something going on in his mind, she could tell. She couldn't tell what it was, but he was definitely thinking hard about something. Whatever it was, it was troubling him, that much she could tell.

And then they'd stopped. The TARDIS had given one final shudder, and then they'd stopped. The Doctor looked at his screen, frowned and nodded to himself.

"Here we are then, the Mercer Colony, that's it, isn't it?" he turned to Padra, who nodded. "Right, the two of you stay here…"

"Hold on," Rose cut him off, standing along with the girl.

"I want to go with you," Padra told him.

"Better off staying here with Rose," he looked to her. "Don't worry, she'll take good care of you," he promised, and Padra tried to give a genuine smile, but it still came off disappointed. "Won't be long, I'll just pop out and take a look around, and I'll be back," he went toward the door, but Rose dashed after him. "You stay with her," the Doctor told her before he'd ever turned to face her.

"Doctor…" Rose started, and he knew what she was going to tell him, so he shook his head.

"She can't be seen. Whoever was meant to have her, they've gone to a lot of trouble to find her, and I can only imagine that if they were to find her, it wouldn't be good for any of us, even you and I. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she conceded.

"I won't be long now, you just keep her safe."

"I can do that," Rose promised, and the Doctor nodded before heading out. Rose locked the door behind him before turning back to Padra, letting out a breath. The child stood by the control panel, staring back at her. Rose had to think quick and find something to keep her occupied. Finally she had an idea. "Tell you what," she picked up the girl and stood her on the seat so they could be about eye to eye. "You might need a disguise."

"A disguise?" Padra asked, curious.

"Yeah," Rose smiled. "Just in case. And I know just the place to look. Want to see?" Padra nodded happily. "Good, let's go," she held on to her hands so she could hop off the seat and she walked her off toward the Doctor's wardrobe room. They had walked in, and Rose could hear Padra gasp in awe, which got her smiling again. She deserved to have something make her happy at this point.

They had started off looking for a disguise in earnest. But then Padra had spotted a scarf dangling from above, and she wanted it. Rose had managed to pull it down, wrapping it around the small girl until the whole thing made her come off as a colorful and woolen mummy, which she had mentioned. Padra had no idea what a mummy was, and Rose had told her to never mind.

After this though, they would take out and try on just about anything that Padra wanted. They had gone and gathered themselves a sizable pile, and Padra stood there in the middle of it. They took a break, and the six-year-old sat with a long cape about her shoulders and a hat that was too big even for Rose's head.

"There, no one will ever recognize you now," Rose joked, but Padra didn't respond, and pulling the large hat from her eyes, Rose saw curious and sad eyes.

"Toh is dead, isn't he?" she asked directly, and Rose sat down with her.

"Padra…"

"It's alright, you can tell me. I've known for a while… or I figured it out," she shrugged.

"We can't know for certain," Rose told her, and that was the truth. It was all but inevitable that the man should be dead, but it wasn't as though they'd seen a body, so maybe he was still out there… or she was holding on to hope because she didn't want Padra to be sad. "He went out there to protect you, you know that, right?"

"I know," Padra told her. "I miss him. I miss my parents." Rose pulled her into her lap, cape and all. Padra threw it around her shoulders as well, bringing her into the fold in effect.

"I miss my family all the time, too," Rose revealed.

"Where are they?" Padra asked.

"Well, there's my mum, her name's Jackie, she's on a planet called Earth."

"That's where my family is from, too," Padra brightened. "But it was years and years ago, hundreds and thousands of them. You live there?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" Rose leaned in, and Padra did as well. "This ship, it travels in space and in time as well. I was born, from your point of view, thousands of years ago."

"You were?" Padra was stunned.

"Yes," Rose laughed. "And that's where Jackie is. I know it sounds mad, and you'll give yourself a headache if you try and think about it too hard, but that's where she is. I can still talk to her though, so even if we're miles and miles away, and years and years, too… I know she's only a phone call away."

"What about your father?" Padra asked. Her smile had some sadness in it, but it remained a smile.

"He died when I was a baby," she revealed. "I never knew him. But I know he was a great man," she could almost close her eyes there, to call up the image of him, from so many pictures she had stared at over the years.

"I'm sorry," Padra told her.

"Don't worry about it," Rose insisted. "Look, right now the Doctor is out there, and he is going to do everything he can to help you. That is a promise," she looked her in the eye, and Padra smiled. She knew Rose meant every word, and that was good enough for her.

"Can we try on more hats?"

"Many, many hats," Rose vowed, extracting the girl from the clothes pile.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	10. A Bounty On Her Head

**"Padra's Run"**

**10. A Bounty On Her Head**

_The Mercer Colony_

He had a fairly good idea of what he'd find when he got to where he was going, but he had to see for himself either way, if only to get whatever information he could get in order to help the girl. They had taken her on now, and he knew it wouldn't only be Rose who would be disappointed if they didn't try and help; he would be disappointed as well, at himself. It would get worse before it got better, that was for sure.

He was able to find Padra's home, although when he saw it he saw a house more than a home. It looked abandoned, not broken down, just… empty.

There was a girl standing outside the next house over, balanced on a crutch, one of her legs wrapped in a bandage. She had dropped something on the ground and was attempting to retrieve it, made infinitely harder by her present condition.

"Need a hand there?" the Doctor asked her. She couldn't have been more than five or six years old.

"Hands I have," she pointed out, and it made him smile.

"That you do." He crouched and picked up the small box, handing it to her.

"Thank you," the girl gave him a smile of her own.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Nira!" a man called out and the Doctor looked up to find a man rushing toward them. "Get away from her," he pointed to the Doctor, who stood back with his hands in the air.

"No harm done," he assured the man, Nira's father he assumed. "I was only helping her."

"I dropped my box," Nira informed her father.

"As it is, you're just the man I was looking for," the Doctor told him as he picked up his daughter, crutch and all.

"And who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, I'm a friend of Padra's," he declared.

"You know Padra?" Nira lit up immediately, and her father gave her a look.

"When you say friend…"

"Someone who wants to look to her well-being," the Doctor answered.

"Whose well-being?" He looked up as a woman came and joined them.

"Mom, he knows Padra," Nira informed her.

"Yes, and as I was saying…"

"She's not here," Nira's mother cut her off.

"Oh, I know that," the Doctor shrugged. "What about the parents?"

"Why do you need to know?" the father asked, but his wife had other things on her mind.

"Why don't you come inside, you must be thirsty, weather like this," she indicated the house with her head. Her husband looked uncertain still, but whatever was telling his wife that this conversation should be moved somewhere private was not unknown to him, so he led the way. Once inside, the mother had taken her daughter back to her room, saying she should rest. Alone with the father, the Doctor looked around the home before turning to the man.

"I'm sorry, I never asked your names."

"I'm Eran, that's my wife, Bridget."

"You've known Padra and her parents long?"

"Peter and I grew up together," he nodded.

"How did your daughter injure her leg?" the Doctor moved right along, and Eran just barely caught himself before following the momentum of questions, which already told the Doctor plenty: It had to do with Padra's situation, and he didn't want to talk about it… he was scared.

"Accident," he simply stated.

"Yes, I see," the Doctor humored him as Bridget returned. She moved into the kitchen, returning with the drinks she had promised. "That's her house there, next door?" he pointed.

"Yes," Bridget told him, while her husband remained quiet.

"So where is everyone?"

"Away," Eran remained as brief and to the point as ever. He wasn't going to say a thing. The Doctor could see he wanted to trust him, and no doubt the safety of his wife and daughter was telling him silence had to be his ally in protecting them. The Doctor couldn't blame him for that, and yet…

"Dad!" Nira's voice was heard calling from her room.

"Excuse me," Eran put his glass down and went to see to her. Bridget watched him go, and the moment he was out of earshot, she had turned to the Doctor.

"You know where she is, don't you? Padra, you know where she is," she stated, and he couldn't answer before she went on. "Don't tell me where that is, it's better I don't know. Just tell me, is she safe?"

"She is," he promised, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Her parents…"

"You need to understand, they're good people. When Peter went to made the deal, he was desperate, we all were. It was the only solution. He knew the price would be high, it always is. He didn't know they would ask for him to give up his daughter as payment." The Doctor said nothing, but she could be sure he understood all this, so she went on. "The deal was struck, it was binding, they had to provide Padra and that was it. Only they didn't, so now there are the hunters."

"And who are they?"

"They will not stop, not until they have retrieved payment. They never go away," Bridget told him.

"What about her parents, where are they?"

"They couldn't provide payment, they were taken as penalty, to pay off their debt in work."

"So as slaves," he translated. He'd had it right on that one, though he would have preferred to be wrong, just this once, because the outcome might well have been brighter. "Do you know where they were taken?" he had to ask, and she hesitated. "You told Nira to call for her father so you could talk to me, don't back down now."

"How did y…" she blinked, but then she sighed. "I don't know where exactly, but I think I have a general idea," she admitted.

"Good. Show me."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	11. The Bad Men

**"Padra's Run"**

**11. The Bad Men**

_Inside the TARDIS_

She swore she'd seen them somewhere, west of the sixties, past the flappers, and then… "Padra, I found the gloves!" she called back, climbing up from the depths. "They could be a bit too big for…" she presented the gloves… to no one. "Padra? Where are you hiding?" she smiled, putting the gloves down, looking around. She'd wandered off.

Rose sighed, moving out from the wardrobe, following the halls. Maybe she'd returned to the control room; she had liked to look at the lights, the console and 'the thing that went woosh' as she called it.

She wasn't there, but Rose did find something else. She crouched to find a hat, lying on the ground just shy of the walkway toward…

"Oh… no," she dashed for the door.

X

_The Mercer Colony_

It had been nearly one month since she had been home. She knew the Doctor had wanted her to stay in the TARDIS with Rose, and she would… She just wanted to see her own sky, walk on her own ground, just for a minute or two and then she would go right back in. She also knew no one could see her; this she had been aware of for as long as she'd been running with Toh. She knew it had to do with the exchange her father had tried to make, and she wondered if this would be the last time she ever set foot in the colony. If that was the case, then she deserved one last look at the place that had been her home.

She hadn't been this happy in so long, and all she could think about now was her house, and her friends, and… her family… Were they there? Were they wondering what had become of her, were they worried?

There was her home, so close ahead, she could see it. She looked back to the TARDIS, hesitating. She looked forward, to her home and…

Nira.

She could see her, outside, in front of her own home, which was next to hers. There was something wrong with her leg, she could see it from all this way away. For that alone, she couldn't help herself, she had to go to her. So she ran.

"Nira!" she tried to do something between a shout and a whisper. Her friend looked up, and seeing her there nearly made her fall off her feet.

"Padra, you're here, you're… Where did you go?" Nira smiled.

"I can't… What happened?" she looked at her leg.

"When you left, the people… They thought you were hiding at our house, they wanted to make my parents talk," Nira's face trembled with the memory.

"I'm sorry," Padra blinked in shock. "Does it hurt?"

"Less now," Nira shrugged. "Padra, where did you go?"

"I can't tell you, I…"

The first thing Toh had taught her after they had left the colony was that she needed to remain hyperaware, wherever they went. She had to be able to feel her surroundings, in case someone was looking at her like they might be after her, trying to take her. It was complicated at first, but she had learned quickly.

And now she was feeling something.

If she'd looked up a second later it might have been too late. But she did look up, and when she did she saw them coming toward her and Nira. There were four of them, tall and strong and frightening. She recognized two of them from her house, the day they'd come for her.

Everything else happened very fast.

"Get out of there!" They looked back to Nira's house. The Doctor was coming toward them, as were Nira's parents.

"Girls, to me!" Turning again, there was Rose, running up.

"You get away from my daughter!" Eran shouted at the four men, brandishing a heavy digging tool. Bridget ran ahead to go pick up Nira, who couldn't run, while Rose got hold of Padra.

"Stop there where you are," the Doctor called to the four men. "This doesn't need to get out of hand."

"Give us the girl, and everything will be alright," one of the men spoke up, eyes locked on Padra and Rose. "Or resist, and we will have no choice but to prosecute you for harboring payment."

"So you're a judge then, is it?" the Doctor asked. He knew where everyone stood, had to. All it would take would be for one person to move, and everything could degenerate in an instant.

"Take her," Bridget spoke to Rose. "Take her, keep her safe… Please, help them, can you do that?"

"Yeah," Rose replied slowly. "We will, but…" her eyes went to the men.

"You three, you get out of here, you go and don't look back."

"But…"

"No, you listen. Take her, if they get their hands on her…" Bridget sounded terrified.

"What? What happens if they get her?" Rose asked.

"Just go, we'll take care of them," she looked to the men.

"We can't leave you, they could kill you."

"I'm not letting them hurt Nira again, not her, or anyone. We will deal with this, now go," she begged. Rose looked to the Doctor. Had it been anyone else, they could never have heard from that far away, but this was the Doctor, and he had heard every word, she was certain; she could see it in the way he stood… He was getting ready to run.

"Alright, just… be careful," Rose didn't want to think about anything happening to Eran, or Bridget… to Nira most of all. "I'm going now…" If he didn't actually hear her, then things would turn to hell.

"Rose?" Padra asked.

"You hold on to me, alright? Don't let go." And she ran.

She couldn't stop, or turn, not once. She could hear noise behind her, but she couldn't look. There was the TARDIS ahead of her and getting Padra inside was all that mattered.

"Nira!" Padra shouted, and Rose didn't know if she was shouting because she didn't want to leave her or if something had happened.

Having Padra in her arms made running harder. One moment the Doctor caught up and got ahead of her, and that gave her a boost. He got the door open, got inside. Padra was still shouting for her friend. Rose ran so fast, as soon as she passed the door she stumbled to the ground, turning so her back would hit rather than to have her fall on top of the small girl. The Doctor snapped the door shut, ran to the controls and within seconds the TARDIS was in flight.

Rose remained on the ground, panting for breath, shaking almost as much as Padra was, crying in her arms… She felt like crying, too.

"You're safe…" Rose rubbed at her back. "We've got you, it's alright."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	12. Like A Friend

**"Padra's Run"**

**12. Like A Friend**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

Word of this odd new substitute had travelled about as fast as news could be expected to travel through the halls of McKinley High. The general opinion seemed to be that she had no idea what she was doing, and that if she didn't end up getting fired, it would become an easy playing field to mess with her and get what they wanted.

Sugar had heard these words, and as much as she could agree that there was something strange about Ginny Harrison, she held it as her opinion that she didn't want the woman to go. She had actually started to like her, which might have had to do with the time they spent together in the library. She didn't know what to expect from her, especially on this next home economics day. Knowing her track record, she might not show up for twenty minutes this time.

When she arrived in class, the dark-haired substitute was already at her desk, bent over a computer screen. Sugar was quick to cover her surprise as she went up to the desk. Ginny was concentrated on what she was reading, so Sugar cleared her throat until the teacher looked up.

"Sorry, I was just… Good morning," she nodded and smiled.

"I just wanted to say that I will be there at the library for our next session."

"Good, thank you for telling me," Ginny sat up. Sugar looked around before leaning in.

"Am I doing okay?" she asked, and Ginny chuckled.

"You're doing great." Now it was her leaning in. "How am I doing?" She looked just as curious as Sugar had. The girl didn't expect to be asked for her opinion; it made her smile.

"Well you were on time today, so that's an improvement." Ginny bowed her head; she was well aware of her tardiness on previous encounters.

"Anything else?" she asked. Sugar didn't know how to respond to that one. There was something about her she couldn't explain, something that made you feel like she was out of her place, out of her depth.

"No, that's about it," Sugar stood back.

"Alright, then off to your seat, we're about to start," Ginny nodded to the tables. Sugar went off to sit while the teacher stood. "Okay, can everyone sit and quiet down, please?" she called out, and it was instantly clear that she was not nearly as nervous and confused as she'd been on her first run at the top of the class. They had their expectations of her now, whether she realized it or not. "I'm going to give you a project today, you'll start in class and finish at home, so be ready to present next time."

"Is it going to be in teams?" one girl asked, raising her hand.

"Yes, teams of two," Ginny confirmed. "Actually, I will ask you to do that first. I will let you choose, but before you do, you might want to know what this project will entail, so you can choose your partner wisely. There will be a scenario, simply enough, you are striking out on your own, looking to either rent your first apartment or buy your first house."

"Like couples?" the same girl asked.

"Couples, roommates… couples who pretend they're roommates," Ginny offered, getting a chuckle out of a few of the students, Sugar included. "It's all up to you. Now pair up." When everyone started to get up and find partners, Ginny looked so pleased with herself, like she didn't expect it to work.

Sugar found herself paired up with a boy called Teddy. He was tall and lean as a pole, though he tended to go about with his back curved into a hunch as he kept his head down. She had always thought he could be kind of cute, if you managed to get a look at his face. He was the shy quiet type, and she would look to him like a challenge, trying to get him out of his shell.

"Good, alright, now before you start, there's one catch," she turned to the board, tugging on the string at the end of the projection screen so it would go up and reveal what she'd written on the board before the class began. There were a dozen years written on the board, spanning anything from the 1800's, across the 1900's, into the present time, and one more which inevitably drew the eye.

"2050?" a boy read out.

"Each team will select one of these years and base their research on the norms you might come across in that time," Ginny explained. "I included this last one for any team who might be up for putting solid thought to what the future may hold," she went on with a smile.

"What's the point, don't you know the world is ending next year?" another boy spoke up with something between a mocking smirk and a hint of honest belief. Ginny bit back a laugh.

"Right, you guys still believe that," she moved back to her desk, pausing for a moment before facing them again. "So who's going to take first pick?"

Sugar and Teddy had ended up with the year 1941. She was immediately taken with the idea of the clothes she would have worn. Teddy was more concerned with deciding on a reason why he wouldn't have been out fighting in the war, 'for accuracy's sake.' After a few minutes though, her ears had picked up on chatter somewhere behind her back.

"… let her out of the loony bin or something?"

"Who knows? She might be crazy, but at least she's hotter than what we usually have to look at."

"Too bad we didn't volunteer for that 'special project' of hers, could have gotten a shot at…" It was stronger than her, Sugar couldn't sit in silence. She spun around.

"The only thing you've got a shot at involves your hand," she spat at the two boys who'd abandoned their partners before turning back forward. "You know what, Teddy, I'm glad you're my partner," she followed up. The boy looked at her, giving a rare peek at a pair of green eyes.

"Thanks," he managed, then, "That was nice, sticking up for Miss Harrison."

"Yeah…" she sighed, looking back at the woman sitting at her desk, reading from her computer screen.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	13. The Dark At The End

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**13. The Dark At The End**

_Inside the TARDIS_

Everything had been so quiet in the minutes that followed their flight away from the Mercer Colony. The Doctor was at the controls, attempting to locate Padra's parents from the information he now held. Rose still sat on the ground, with the child in her arms. She'd stopped crying and shaking, but her mind was elsewhere, and Rose wouldn't disturb her. She'd already been through so much before this day began, and now she'd come close to being captured by these people who were going to extreme lengths to get their hands on a six-year-old girl.

Then Padra had started to move to rise, and Rose let her. She gasped and moved to follow her when she saw she was headed for the TARDIS doors.

"No, hold on, we shouldn't…"

"It's alright, let her," the Doctor called out. Padra looked at him before reaching and opening one door and then the other. When she saw what was outside, her hand reached back for Rose, who took hold.

"I've got you," Rose promised.

"Why did we leave?" Padra asked.

"We had to, those men…"

"They'll hurt Nira," she shook her head.

"She might be alright," Rose tried to reassure her. "Was she hurt before we left? I didn't see, can you tell me?" The girl stared out into space, breathing out.

"Nira's father hurt one of the men. Her mother ran to get her. That's all I saw. Help them, please," she begged.

"Padra," Rose knelt before her, brushing her hair. "We want to help you, me and the Doctor, but Nira's parents, too. They want you and your parents to be together like we do. Alright? I know she's your friend, but we can't go back." Padra looked to the Doctor, still at the console. When she looked back to Rose, there were fresh tears in her eyes.

"Why are people trying to hurt me?" Rose pulled her back into her arms.

"I wish I could tell you. But we're working on it."

"Rose," the Doctor called to her.

"Sit here a minute? You can look at the stars," she pointed out the still open doors. Moving to the Doctor, she wasn't sure what to make of his expression. "Am I lying to her?"

"I found her parents," was his answer. Rose looked to the doors. Padra sat there, leaning against the open door, looking out. If she could hear them, she wasn't showing sign of it.

"That's good, isn't it?"

"I wish it was. I wished it wouldn't be this." Rose frowned, lost. "This deal, Padra for the school, her parents failing to produce her… They had to pay the price in her stead."

"Death?"

"Servitude."

"They're slaves?" Rose gasped, checking Padra again.

"As penance for backing out of their contract, they would be forced to work off their debt."

"What's the going price on not giving up one's child?" Rose asked, feeling like she could be sick.

"Good news is they might be alive. They would be placed in the service of an individual, or a family, or any number of businesses. There are a number of these worlds. We've just found Peter and Renna. When we get there, I go alone."

"What about Padra?"

"It's too dangerous. They're looking for her, you know as well as I do that if they find her…"

"I want to come." They looked up. Padra had left her post and approached.

"The Doctor's right," Rose shook her head.

"You don't know what my parents look like, I can help. I want to help. It's my fault." The Doctor went up to her, lifting her into his arms rather than crouching.

"Listen now, there are several people whose fault it is. You, Padra, are not one of them. I want you to remember that, will you?" She hesitated, but then she nodded. "There is… one thing I could do. I shouldn't do it, but something tells me there are very few people in the whole of time and space who could keep you from going after what you want, and I know what I'm talking about," he looked her in the eye and her eyebrows rose in curiosity. "Rose, if at any time things go horribly wrong, remind me of this moment?" he put the girl down before moving to pull back the grating from one part of the TARDIS floor.

From the hole he pulled a crate and opened it, rifling through the contents. Both Rose and Padra looked on, wondering what he might be searching for. He emerged with a small box in hand.

"This is either what we need, or something I should return sometime before the year 1843."

"But that's… Never mind," Rose thought better than to deem this as 'the past.' The Doctor opened the box and turned it over in his palm, transferring two brass looking rings. Each of them looked to fit over two fingers rather than one.

"This one is… right," he spoke to himself. "Rose, I'll need your left hand, Padra your right."

"What are those?" Rose asked as he slipped one of the double rings on to her fingers.

"That's too big," Padra pointed out as the Doctor brought the second set of rings to her hand.

"Is it?" he asked. She looked down and was stunned to find they fit perfectly. "The two of you stand together, Rose take her ring hand with yours." When she did, she felt a chill. "Do you feel it?"

"Wh… Yes?"

"Acts about as well as a perception filter. So long as you two hold on, they won't see her. You're in charge of keeping her that way," he looked to Rose before turning his eyes to Padra and pointing a finger at her. "That means no letting go, no matter what. If you want to come, that's part of the deal."

"I understand," she nodded, proud for the trust they were granting her. All she wanted was to help find her parents, and something was telling him that was where she belonged, despite every other sign pointing to this being too dangerous.

"One last thing. Local dress. If we want to draw as little attention as possible, then you better look the part."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	14. Places For All

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**14. Places For All**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

Sugar had arrived to the library not only on time but before time. Miss Harrison was nowhere to be found, so she sat at a table, pulled out a magazine and started to read, waiting there. The minutes ticked on by, until she realized their meeting time had arrived, and the substitute was still absent. Part of her wanted to keep sitting and reading her magazine, but eventually she got up, went to get everything ready, and she began to do what she was meant to do… what they were both meant to do, would be doing together if Ginny ever showed up. Maybe she would appreciate her initiative.

The task was not the most entertaining, but usually when she'd talk with Ginny it went faster. She was starting to come to the conclusion that she liked talking to her, and she wasn't even sure why.

It was thirty minutes or so before she looked up and saw her walking through the door. She was carrying three coffees in a cardboard tray, and Sugar wondered why three, but Ginny handed one to the librarian, who gave a smile. She carried the other two to the table, holding one out to Sugar.

"Peace offering for being late," she announced.

"Can we have those here?" Sugar took it and breathed it in.

"She seems to think so," Ginny nodded to the librarian.

"Smart," Sugar smiled, taking a sip. "I got started while I waited," she looked to the table.

"Well done," Ginny picked up her own cup, putting the tray aside.

"What was it this time?" Sugar asked her, and she looked up, hesitating. "You're never going to keep this job if you're always late like this." Seeing the surprised look on her face, Sugar lowered her eyes. "Just saying, Miss Harrison."

"I know," Ginny breathed out. "It's my new apartment, still settling in. It's… I guess the right term would be a 'fixer upper.' If it's not one thing it's another thing. I have people in there all the time…"

"Oh, you shouldn't leave them alone," Sugar jumped in.

"With any hope, I won't have to bring anyone in again."

"I can talk to my parents, they'll know people, I can get you their numbers," Sugar had a thought.

"I think I should be fine now… I hope so, at least. But if something comes up I'll keep you in mind," Ginny smiled, bowing her head in thanks. "Speaking of your parents, I heard your father sells pianos?" Sugar perked up at the mention of her father.

"He does, best ones in Lima," she promised. "Why, do you need one? I can get him to give you a good deal," she offered.

"Oh, even with a discount I don't think I could afford it," Ginny shook her head.

"But you do play."

"Started when I was maybe three years old, at my grandmother's house, she knew someone who could teach me, one thing led to another..."

"How long did you study for?"

"Years, several years," Ginny nodded, feeling like she was being quizzed.

"So were you any good?"

"People at Juilliard definitely thought so," she smiled, and Sugar's eyes went wide.

"You went to Juilliard?"

"And graduated, but that's…" she cleared her throat, tried to change the subject. "What about you, do you play?"

"My father sells pianos, what do you think?" Sugar rolled her eyes.

"Not a fan?" Ginny chuckled.

"My teacher was not nice. She kept yelling at me when I messed up. I messed up a lot."

"Maybe one day you can give it another shot. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

"I probably forgot it all," Sugar shrugged.

"Won't know until you try. So is that why you joined Glee Club?" Ginny went on.

"Not really, I just… It looked fun, and I thought I could make friends, because they'd want me there."

"Who wouldn't?" Ginny gave her a smile. Sugar shrugged.

"Didn't go off too well at first. Even today, sometimes I wonder if they really…" Now it was her who wanted to change the subject. "So how much longer is it going to take before all this is done?" she asked, gesturing to the table.

"One more session," Ginny assessed, looking around the table. "I swear."

"What's that on your neck?" Sugar frowned when she spotted a greenish sort of stain near her ear. Ginny reached up and touched her fingers to the skin, trying to find what she'd mean. She looked at her fingers and blinked, thinking.

"Oh, that's… How the hell did that get there, must have been… You don't want to know," she grabbed a napkin from the coffee tray and wiped the stain away. Sugar's face scrunched up, thinking of what she might not have wanted to know.

Putting the stain out of her thoughts, the two had finally gotten to work, focusing so they would finish as soon as possible. Sugar found her previous thoughts were correct: the work was easier to get through when she had Ginny there to chat with. It still felt like there were things the substitute was not saying, and as much as Sugar could understand that her private life was hers to have, she couldn't help being curious, especially when she was acting so strange. Was she telling the truth about her apartment problems?

"Well, I think we're good for today, right?" Ginny finally declared. "Go on, I'll close up here," she nodded to the door.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I did show up late."

"You did," Sugar nodded. "Well, see you around, and thanks for the coffee," she picked up her things and her cup before heading out of the library, fingers moving against the cup like the keys of a piano.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)


	15. Never To Walk Here

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**15. Never To Walk Here**

_Bolter City Camp Grounds, in the year 5104_

When they had opened the doors of the TARDIS, they had found themselves in a sprawling market place. People walked right by the blue police box, never taking any notice of the man and woman standing just inside its doors.

"And here it is," the Doctor looked around.

It did not take long for them to start differentiating the two classes of people moving about the busy area. There were those whose clothes and very posture established them as being of the more affluent part of the population. And then there were the others, in modest dress, feet bare and in many cases bruises on display. Their eyes seemed planted at the feet of the first class, to the people they had been forced to serve. They carried the load, whatever their masters had acquired that day.

"What do I tell them if they ask where I belong?" Rose asked the Doctor. He'd made her change, but she wasn't entirely sure if she was meant to pass as one of these slaves or…

"You're thinking of settling down. They're always interested in fresh blood," he kept looking around. He was just as affected by the filter put around Padra as anyone else, but she was standing behind him, he could feel it, and he knew what she must have been thinking, or at least he could imagine. "Right," they stepped from the TARDIS and he shut the doors. "This way," they walked off, mingling amongst the people. Rose tried to look like those people who led rather than being led, but she couldn't bear the risk that she might meet someone's eye, and in the end she looked closer to a slave. Maybe in the end though this would pay off.

"Rose," Padra whispered at her side.

"What?" she whispered back.

"Guards," the child alerted her, and Rose looked around.

She saw them soon enough. They didn't look like the ones they had run into in Mercer, but then those had been more bounty hunters than anything else. There were two, a man and a woman. The man looked like he could crush you with the slightest squeeze of his hand. The woman looked so very small when stood next to him, but that didn't make her look any less dangerous.

"Doctor," she warned.

"I see them," he assured her. "Don't let go," he reminded both her and Padra.

The guards were too busy to notice the strangers. They had stopped a trio of slaves, going about on their own. Each of them presented their hands, and the woman waved some kind of scanner over their palms. The slaves showed they were carrying food from the market, purchases for their masters. The brute served himself from one of the baskets, spit out the bite and barked at the trio, and they put all three baskets down, and get on their knees.

"He's not going to…" Rose hesitated to speak with Padra so close.

"A slave has no worth if it's dead, and these people intend to get their money's worth," was his way of replying, and she didn't know whether to feel relieved or more sickened. "Their shame is enough for him."

"What did they do?" Rose asked.

"Nothing at all."

There was nothing much to be done, not so long as they didn't want to draw attention to themselves and put Padra at risk, though Rose could feel the Doctor wanted to do more. There was no sign of their 'friends' from back on Mercer, at least so far, and she chose to take this as a good sign. She hoped this meant Nira's parents had taken care of the threat somehow, although she knew it could also mean both sides of that standoff had 'taken care' of each other.

"Maybe we should split up," Rose had suggested. "Get a look around, meet back at the TARDIS?"

"Do I need to tell you to be careful?" he didn't argue. She stopped him so he would look at her.

"We'll find her parents, and see to get them out, yes, but… Who's going to help the rest of them?" she looked around. "You said there were more of these worlds out there, just like this. The thought of it, I don't…" she looked down.

"I'm sorry," he told her, and looked up again.

"Can we shut them down?" His lack of an answer was either telling her that he couldn't do it, or he didn't know, or he couldn't tell her, and she wasn't sure what was worse.

"All we need to think about, all we can think about, right now, is to find who we came looking for."

He was silent as he looked to her, and Padra wouldn't see or understand. He was telling her they might not like what they'd find. Padra's parents should be alive, he'd said so, but alive did not mean unharmed.

Rose took Padra off one way, while the Doctor went another way. If Padra had anything to say, she was keeping it to herself. She wasn't so blind to the situation, and Rose had always seen it in her eyes. She'd already been through her fair share, had already lost people that had mattered to her, and they could talk in hushed tones around her all they wanted, but the six-year-old girl knew she might never see her parents again, and she'd allowed that fact to start and become her reality. All Rose wanted to do now was to give her a reason to hope.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY MARCH 1st)


	16. Where We Perish

_A/N: From this point on, I'll be posting updates three times a week, on Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays :D_

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**16. Where We Perish**

_Bolter City Camp Grounds – in the year 5104_

He would know them when he would see them. The way he saw it, the best way to get to Padra's parents would be to find an in with some of these slaves. The richer the better, he thought. People here had no problem putting their wealth on display, be it material or living. He wanted the ones who gave the biggest show.

He knew he'd hit right where he had to be when he spotted the… he'd call it a procession, almost. Of the owners themselves there were two, a man and a woman. They even walked wealthily, if there was such a thing. Behind them, he counted a dozen slaves. These were a breed all of their own. There was no doubt they were exactly what he thought they were, but their owners had dressed them to reflect just how much they could permit themselves; their money could buy finely dressed slaves who started at your back, not your feet.

"Pardon me, if I may," he had approached the man and woman, presenting them with the psychic paper. They looked at it, and then at him.

"An inspector," the woman looked to the man, he guessed her husband. "Is this for the expansion?" she inquired, and he ran with it.

"Yes, yes it is," he put the paper back in his pocket.

"I suppose it's in everyone's best interest, make sure everything is in order," the man nodded.

"I'm glad you feel that way," the Doctor told him, rather than saying 'you've made things much easier for me.'

"Good then, follow us," the man said, with an eased smile.

As he'd followed them, he found out many things. For one, the man was called Shecklin, and the woman – his wife, as he'd guessed – was Masha. Of the whole of Bolter City, their house was already the biggest, and so was their 'staff,' some forty slaves. But the city was ever growing, and if they meant to maintain this position, then they needed more slaves, and a bigger house to serve. So they were looking to expand. At the house, most of the dozen who'd followed was dismissed, leaving three to trail along while Shecklin and Masha gave the tour of their house to the Doctor. It was everything he had thought it would be, wealth for wealth's sake.

"Could I have a moment to talk with some of your… staff?" he finally asked.

"Well, will these do?" Masha asked, indicating the trio.

"Yes, thank you," the Doctor confirmed, and the couple walked away, leaving him with the two women and the young man.

"You're no inspector, are you?" said one of the women.

"What gave it away?" he didn't hide.

"There was nothing on that paper." Filing away his surprise, he looked to the three of them; they wouldn't tell. "My name is Bells, this is Crin," she turned to the other woman.

"I'm Jon," the man presented himself.

"I'm the Doctor, wondering if you might be able to help me locate some people, husband and wife, brought into service like you were."

"Not all of us were brought here," Crin corrected him.

"Is that right?" the Doctor asked, and she looked down.

"I volunteered," she tried to own to it after a moment. "I made a trade. Shouldn't have done it, but I was desperate. That's how they get you. But there's a price, the one they make you pay, and the one you have to live with. That one cost me my family. I came here so maybe… I can make it right," she held her head up.

"How long's it been?" he asked, and she looked aside.

"Three years." The Doctor turned to Bells.

"You then, what's your story?" She looked around. He imagined not many people ever asked, except for others like them. She didn't want anyone getting in trouble because of her, or any of them.

"I fought to free my people."

"Is that how you know about the psychic paper?" he guessed, and she nodded.

"I had a mission, and if I succeeded, it could have meant… an important victory, for all of us."

"So what happened?" he asked.

"I was captured," she admitted. "I was given two options: either I served, and they let my team go, or I refused and I watched them all executed one by one."

"They held their word?"

"Their word is their livelihood. That was six years ago."

"She looks out for us," the man said. "I've been here five months, I wouldn't have made it." The Doctor looked to Bells, who was looking to Crin. There was something there, though he pretended like he didn't see. "But, please, can you get me out of here?"

"What's troubling?"

"Masha," Crin revealed. "She likes to take the men to her side, if you see…"

"Yes, I believe I do," the Doctor frowned. "I can make no promises, but for now I need to know. This couple, they go by Peter and Renna."

"They're not in this house," Bells shook her head. "How long have they been here?"

"Not very, a month, about. They sacrificed themselves for their child." The three looked to one another.

"We can help you find them," Bells promised.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	17. The Odd Life of a Substitute

**"Padra's Run"**

**17. The Odd Life of a Substitute**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

Sugar would not have said, not to her friends in Glee Club or even to Ginny herself, but she'd come to enjoy her sessions at the library. Sometimes they frustrated her, especially with how Miss Harrison kept showing up late, but other than that, she did enjoy it. It wasn't as though any part of it was hard or, well, all that entertaining, but she would miss it when it would be done.

'Maybe I should tell Ginny,' she'd thought. 'Or maybe she'll think I'm sucking up for more points.' It did sound that way, even if, for once, it wasn't what she had in mind.

Just as she'd been thinking about her, she'd spotted the substitute teacher in question, breezing through the hall. Sugar turned and tried to catch up with her. As she got nearer, she realized she was on the phone, so she didn't say anything, even though she was still following and could possibly be accused of eavesdropping.

"No, I understand that, I do," Ginny was saying.

Maybe it was some other problem with her apartment. She wished she'd let her speak to her father about getting her in touch with the proper people to get her place fixed once and for all.

"Does it have to be now? I have to be teaching another class, soon, and if I do this I could end up being late ag… Yes, I realize th… What happens if I'm not there? I have it on good authority that… There you go with the rules again…"

Okay, maybe it wasn't about the apartment. But then what was it? She wasn't making much sense anymore, and…

Ginny had gone around the corner, and when Sugar had done the same, she couldn't find the substitute. She stopped, confused. How had she gotten away so fast? It wasn't like she'd been running after her, but still…

"Sugar, hey, coming?" She turned, finding Mercedes standing outside the choir room. She looked back down the hall, like suddenly Ginny would have reappeared, or she'd see she'd only missed her the last time she'd looked. But she still wasn't there, and it was almost time for Glee Club.

"Yeah, okay," she moved to join Mercedes. Inside the choir room, some of them were already gathered and, of all things, she realized they were discussing new substitute teacher Ginny Harrison.

"Have you seen her yet?" Puck was asking Artie, who shook his head. "Tell you what, if we had more teachers like her, I might pay attention more."

"So she's good?" Tina guessed.

"He means he thinks she's hot," Santana translated for him.

"Is she?" Artie asked.

"I kind of have to agree with Puck on that one," Santana admitted, getting a nod of agreement from Brittany. "There is something though…"

"You noticed it, too?" Puck pointed at her; he knew what she meant.

"I can't put my finger on it," she shook her head. "She just says things sometimes."

"What kinds of things?" Quinn asked.

"Just weird things," Santana couldn't recall them specifically.

"And you speak from experience," Puck 'guessed,' indicating Brittany at the other Cheerio at her side.

"I'd think real hard before finishing that sentence, Puckerman," Santana threw him a glare, and Tina jumped in to defuse the situation before it got ugly.

"Sugar," she called to her. "She's got you helping her with that thing of hers, right? In the library?"

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"So you've spent the most time with her. What's she like?"

Tardy, distracted, uncertain, jumpy… sweet, funny, helpful… She could have said any of those, but it was dawning on her that, for all this, and for all the time she'd spent with her in the library, maybe she didn't know her that well at all.

The others were staring at her, waiting for her to talk, so she shrugged. "I don't know, she's a teacher." They looked a bit let down by her response, but they let her go and went back to talking amongst themselves.

Something about that phone call had been strange, stranger than everything else had already been. Even before she'd just up and disappeared, her tone was different, and even the way she stood and walked had been more self-assured. Was she putting on another persona for them, like some kind of skit? The bumbling substitute…

In the library, when they'd met there, she had been different them how she was in class, this Sugar had already noticed. Was it this, the confident side?

Their collaboration was almost done. Maybe afterward they would go back to being strangers. Would it be better that way? She didn't know, like part of her was hurt and wanted to say yes, and the other would have had her be more patient and trusting. It wasn't like she didn't put on a persona, too. The Sugar she was at school was not exactly who she was at home. Maybe they were more alike than she thought.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	18. Not A Word

**"Padra's Run"**

**18. Not a Word**

_Bolter City Camp Grounds – in the year 5104_

Rose would hear her whimper sometimes, which told her she was holding on too tight. She'd apologize and loosen her grip. But she couldn't help it. She knew what was at stake if she let go, and she wasn't about to let that happen. So as much as she'd loosen, after a while she would tighten again, and Padra would whimper again.

They didn't know what they were looking for. They were looking for her parents, obviously, but the issue was really to find the people who would allow Peter and Renna to be found. There was still the slightly unlikely likelihood that they might find the pair of them just walking through the market. This would have been too easy, or maybe too dangerous.

There were so many people around, Rose was afraid one would bump into Padra, realize something was amiss, or maybe they'd accidentally knock her grip free, exposing the hidden child. She tried to keep them from getting too lost in the crowds, keeping to the less populated edges.

"Excuse me," she took up her courage, remembering what the Doctor had told her, and went up to a small group of slaves. "I'm looking to settle down h…" she started, but the group turned and walked away from her. "So much for that…" she sighed.

"May we help you?" She turned and came face to face with two men, both of them easily a head taller than her, and if she had to guess she would say they were brothers. The way they looked down, she made them for slaves.

"Yes, maybe, I… I'm looking for…"

"Why do you hide the child?" the second man spoke, and she froze. Had they been looking at her feet or at Padra?

"What child?" she played clueless.

"The one you are keeping us from seeing," said the first man. "At least we assume it's a child. The field is small, and the angle of your arm would indicate also a small person. So, we say a child."

"I'm sorry, you've got the wrong idea," Rose shook her head, gently tugging at Padra's hand so she would follow and they could leave the two men.

"Where are we going?" Padra whispered as they'd gained distance.

"Don't speak now," Rose instructed her.

"They could help. They're smart," she still pointed out. Rose sighed, sneaking a look back. She supposed she had gotten spooked by the fact that they'd caught on to the filter's ruse. Maybe she needed to be more trusting. She still felt like it could be a mistake in the end, but eventually she guided Padra back. "I'll be quiet."

"How long have you been here?" were the first words she addressed to them. They turned and saw she had come back.

"Twenty-two years," said the first.

"Both of you?" Rose asked and they nodded. "Why? What happened?"

"They wanted my house, and my brother's wife," the second man looked to his brother. "So we said no."

"I'm sorry," Rose told them. "For that, and for leaving before. My name's Rose," she offered.

"I am Eree," said the first man. "And this is my brother, Fen," he introduced.

"Suppose there was a child, which I'm not saying there is…"

"You're safe," Fen vowed.

"I'm looking for some people, a man and a woman, named Peter and Renna. They were from the Mercer Colony, I don't know if you know that, or if you know them…"

"This man, he has a scar on his ear, yes?" Eree asked, tugging at his right lobe. Rose felt her hand get squeezed.

"Yes, that's right," she confirmed.

"They're serving Corder's house," Eree informed her.

"They are?" Rose didn't want to get too hopeful yet, but having a name was already a big break for them. "Is that good or bad, or…" she asked, and the look the brothers shared took away all her confidence at once.

"This is left to be seen," said Fen, which she guessed meant 'this is not something for a child to hear.' Even if she had not said this was Peter and Renna's child, or that there actually was a child to begin with, she didn't have to say it, they already understood.

"You shouldn't be here now, go. Hurry, girl, take the child and leave." She recognized the urgency in Fen's voice: someone was coming.

"Thank you," she told them before taking Padra and walking away, casually but hurriedly.

"The guards are back," Padra informed her as they got away.

"Look forward, please," Rose told her. She let out a small squeak of a cry, which Rose hoped would get swallowed into the sounds of the market place, but still it made her look back.

The two guards they had seen earlier, traumatizing the three slaves with their baskets, they were on Eree and Fen now. They weren't looking for shame now though. The man was hitting Fen, while Eree could do nothing but watch. He was powerless, and the guards wanted him to know that.

"We'll find the Doctor," Rose promised Padra. "We know where they are now, part of the way at least. We're one step closer, alright?" Rose told her.

They needed to get out of this place, she felt too exposed, her and Padra. Even if they couldn't see the child, Eree and Fen had proved the perception filter wasn't fool proof. There were too many of them here, guards, and slaves, people in robes both hooded and jeweled. Any one of them could mean their undoing.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	19. Gather in Masses

_A/N: It is gleekathon day 1234 and if you think I am not giggling about that right now then prepare for a surprise ;)_

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**19. Gather in Masses**

_Bolter City Camp Grounds – in the year 5104_

He had made it back to the TARDIS and, as much as he had confidence in Rose's abilities, he couldn't help worrying that she and Padra might have run into some trouble. He would give them the benefit of the doubt and wait before he went after them, but he hated every moment of it. If there was one thing he knew, it was that trouble could find his companions faster than he could say…

"Doctor!" he heard her call and he looked up just as she approached. He could feel the filter around Padra, so she was there as well. He opened the TARDIS door from behind his back and let them in. The door was closed and Rose let Padra's hand go. There was a small amused smile on her face.

"Did you like that?" the Doctor asked, and she nodded. "I wouldn't get too happy over being invisible," he recommended, and she shook her head.

"We found them," Rose cut in, and now he looked at her.

"Did you?"

"Well, we know who they serve, this man called Corder. We just need to find out where he lives, right?"

"Oh, if it were that simple," he frowned.

"The ones who told me about him, they said, or… they wouldn't say… He could be an issue," she admitted.

"There, see?"

"Maybe if we had help. Those two I met, they could tell she was there without seeing her, and they warned us to get away. I think, I know we could trust them."

"Fair enough," the Doctor agreed. "I've met a few of my own that we could recruit. Understand however, the more people we bring into this, the more could get hurt."

"I know. But I don't think we have a choice," she looked to Padra.

Without ever really stopping to consider it, the level at which they'd try to keep the girl in the dark had been brought down. She already had been exposed, long before they'd become involved in her life.

"They'll help, won't they?" Padra had asked, and as she did, something else became evident. As much as they were willing to involve her, there was a limit, and they had just come to it. They couldn't bring her along.

"Of course they will," the Doctor told her, holding his hand out to her. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see," he told her. He led her down a corridor, then another, until they reached the door and he opened it. When she saw the bed, she knew.

"You're leaving me here, aren't you?"

"Two reasons, other than the fact that this will be dangerous. One," he lifted her up and sat her on the bed. "You are a runner. A fine quality on most days, not so much here."

"What's the second reason?" she asked just as he held her face in his hands.

"The child queen of Mesphoria," he answered as she was rendered unconscious. He gently laid her down, making sure she was comfortable before leaving the room and shutting the door. He looked back to Rose.

"The child queen of…" she asked as they moved back to the control room.

"Went and flew my TARDIS right into the Middle Ages when I wasn't looking. Didn't mean to, but there were just so many switches," he put on a face of wonderment.

"What do we do now?" Rose asked. He checked his screen.

"We wait."

"We wait?" she repeated, lost.

"Yes, wait," he confirmed. "Best way not to raise suspicion is to find them when we can talk to them."

"We'll have to find them first," Rose realized she didn't even know where to go to speak with the brothers.

"I'm sorry, did I mention we've moved?" he pointed out, and she blinked, turning and moving to the door. She pulled it open just enough so she could see, then closed it again.

"Where are we?"

"Staff quarters," the Doctor announced.

"Looks more like… barracks."

"Yes, because why would you want comfort and privacy when you could have a hundred or so of your closest kin right in the same room?"

"And they'll be in there?"

"Mine, yours… maybe even hers."

"If that's the case, then why know who they serve? We could take them and run."

"Like I said, not so simple."

"So we wait," she came back to him.

"We wait," he repeated. She took a seat, breathing out.

"Mesphoria?" she asked after the silence had drawn on long enough.

"Beautiful place. Maybe I'll take you someday," he offered, and she smiled. "We can stay right in the palace. The little queen owes me."

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	20. Absences & Introductions

**"Padra's Run"**

**20. Absences & Introductions**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

It had been their final day in the library, or it should have been. Saying it was theirs would have implied that there had been two of them. Instead, Sugar had been alone, because Ginny had never showed.

Sugar had arrived, almost expecting that she would be late, so when she hadn't come for the start time, Sugar had begun to work. She hadn't even realized the appointed time was running out until the last book was stacked away. She had turned to the table, and then it hit her.

She had sat and waited, for ten minutes more before the door had opened and Ginny had come walking in. Sugar hadn't known what she would say or how she would react, but when she'd seen her, the first reaction had been one of anger. She crossed her arms before herself, averting her eyes.

"Sugar…" Ginny sighed. "I'm so sorry, I know… Look, I really did try. I know it's hard to tell, and if I could I would have found a way to schedule this project another time when I wasn't so… otherwise engaged."

"It felt like I was in detention," Sugar told her, still facing away.

"You don't get extra credit for detention though, do you?" Ginny pointed out, earning herself the turn of Sugar's head so she would look at her.

"Right," she had to admit. "But you didn't come at all today. You were even late for the finish."

"I know, I do, and I feel rotten. This is all just… it's new," Ginny sighed, looking to the side as though her mind had gone elsewhere. To Sugar it almost looked like she'd meant to add something, but she'd held back.

"I finished the work," Sugar stood. "So we're done, right?"

"We are," Ginny replied.

"I'll see you in class then," she left the library. Ginny let her go, reluctantly so.

After concluding her end of business with the library, she had gone out the door as well, which had very nearly sent her colliding with a man. "Sorry!" she gasped and looked up, while the man reached to make sure she wouldn't fall.

"You alright?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"Yeah, I… I know you from somewhere… Oh, I know, I saw that picture of you," she pointed down the hall, "With the Glee Club. Will Schuester, right?"

"I am," he confirmed, holding out his hand. "And you are?"

"Ginny Harrison," she shook back.

"The new sub, right, I heard about you," he smiled.

"Is it bad? Should I just…" she hooked her thumb toward the exit. He laughed.

"Not at all. You've definitely got my kids talking."

"Oh, well…" she smiled nervously. "Can I confess something? I don't tend to do too well with… new people, so I should apologize in advance."

"You must be doing something right though, the way I hear it. Sugar mentioned you graduated from Juilliard?"

"Yeah…" her nerves wouldn't let her go.

"Why don't you stop by the choir room someday? We can always use another music lover."

"Oh, I don't know if I could, but if I do, I will definitely take you up on that offer," she smirked. "I'd be marginally more at ease in front of a piano instead of a kitchen counter that's also a desk," she frowned.

"What about in front of a microphone?"

"Well…" she played innocent, but he could see right through her.

"Alright, it's an invitation. Come to the choir room. Please?"

"I will try," Ginny continued. She felt her phone vibrate, and she frowned. "I'm sorry, I need to go. But it was great to meet you, it was," she nodded.

"Same to you," he promised before continuing on his way. Ginny watched him go before remembering her phone.

She knew why she was here, what she was and wasn't meant to do. The longer she was at McKinley though, the harder it got to keep that distance as defined as it had once been.

She'd had no idea what she was doing in the beginning, and it was a wonder no one had brought it up. She was starting to improve, or at least she thought so. But every bit of progress came at the expense of other obligations. The whole thing felt very much like the words "one step forward, three steps back" should have been stamped on her forehead.

No matter what happened, she had to keep forging on. She couldn't even begin to explain how difficult it could get for her, or how she knew it most certainly would feel like her first weeks had been a piece of cake compared to what came next.

But she'd had her reasons for being here, and she had to stop and remember them. Once she did, her focus would begin to realign.

She still felt like she had to make it up to Sugar for not having shown up to the library. She would find a way, even if it meant doing something she had vowed never to do.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	21. Union

**"Padra's Run"**

**21. Union**

_Bolter City Staff Quarters – in the year 5104_

As she stood and waited, Rose would curl her fingers in to feel the double ring on her hand. The Doctor had said if Padra was on the move she would feel it. She didn't see how that would work, but she didn't question it. There was no new feeling, so she should still be in the TARDIS, safely sleeping.

For her part, she now stood out near the staff quarters, hoping to catch a look of Eree and Fen so she could pull them aside before they went inside. They would have drawn too many people in otherwise.

When she saw them at last, she let out a low whistle. They saw her and walked across the grounds. "We need to talk."

"It's not safe," said Eree.

"The child is safe, so it will have to do," she showed her hand. "Have you seen them? Peter and Renna?"

The Doctor had eventually explained to her what the problem was. They could 'just take them and run,' yes. But if they did that, they would never really be free. They would always be tracked, unless they got Corder to release his claim on them.

"It may well be some time still before they come. Corder keeps his staff on late," Fen explained.

"Where's his house, how can I find it?" Rose asked.

"You shouldn't go on your own," Eree warned her.

"I won't be," she shook her head. "I have a friend. But the reason I'm here now is to ask if you would help us… This child will grow without parents if we can't release them. They are here as sacrifice, to protect their child." The Doctor had told her never to name Padra, or even identify her gender. She had agreed, although it was harder to achieve than she had anticipated.

"You will need to make Corder renounce them," Fen warned.

"We know," Rose nodded.

"This friend of yours, where is he?"

"Doing the same thing I'm doing," she revealed. The brothers looked to one another, thinking, deciding. Every time they mentioned or thought about Corder, it was clear they either feared him or knew not to take him lightly.

"We will help you, girl, but understand we are not looking to be rescued. We will serve our debt, and we will go home," Eree looked to his brother.

"How much longer do you have to stay here?" Rose asked.

"Eight years," Fen replied.

"I'm sorry," Rose had to tell them. She had happened upon them by chance, but she still wished she could help them.

"Don't be. What do you need us to do?" asked Eree.

The Doctor knew where to find his lot. It was thanks to Crin, Bells, and Jon that he knew about the quarters. Unlike Rose, he had already set a time and a place to meet them again. The last thing he wanted was to put them in harm's way. Poor Jon only wanted to get out, and the Doctor knew that he probably would have volunteered to do anything if it meant his freedom. That could be dangerous, for all others involved, for Rose, for Jon himself. And then there were the other two, the women, who had been there years whereas the boy had been serving all of five months. He'd only needed to see them for seconds to know Belle carried a quiet torch for soft spoken Crin. He could cost them their future.

But he had come as agreed, and so had they. It was the end of their day of work, and they wore the hours in their limbs. He only wished he had more to offer them, seeing how they had come for him, a stranger in every right.

"Did you find your people?" Crin asked.

"We did. They serve a man called Corder," the Doctor informed them, and they responded with knowing glances.

"You know what needs to happen if you wish to take them away from here," Bells reminded him.

"Yes. Will you help us?"

"Bells…" Crin looked to her. She was scared. Bells took her hand, gave it a squeeze.

"You don't have to do it. You can stay in quarters," Bells promised her.

"Will you do it?" Crin asked.

"I will. I have to."

"Then I'm going with you," she decided.

"Are you sure?" Bells looked her in the eye.

"Sure," Crin told her, then to the Doctor. "Sure."

"If I help you, I want to get out of here," Jon declared.

"I figured you would," the Doctor nodded. "Shecklin and Masha, will they let you go?"

"I don't care. I'll run if I have to. All you have to do is get me out of here. The rest will be up to me. I can help you, if you help me back." The Doctor looked at him for a beat before bowing his head.

"You will need to signal us when the time comes. We won't enter unless we have to, so do not tell anyone else, understand?" All three nodded in turn.

He went and found Rose. Whatever happened next, there would be no turning back. They would have to take the results as they came.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	22. At Nightfall

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**22. At Nightfall**

_Bolter City Staff Quarters – in the year 5104_

The grounds had gone so quiet Rose was almost afraid to breathe, for fear that someone might hear her and discover her and the Doctor, hiding, waiting.

"You won't do yourself any favors holding your breath," he had told her and she was startled, something she would try to hide, brushing hair from her face.

"I wasn't," she assured him, relaxing after a moment. Maybe she didn't have to be so quiet. "What if…"

"What if we can't get the master to let his slaves go?" he guessed, his disdain for the whole system barely hidden behind his tone. He looked back to her. "Would you run if I told you I might have to choose what to do on the spot?" he asked. Knowing him, he had all the outcomes laid out in his head, waiting to see which one would actually come to pass.

"In how many scenarios do we get Padra her parents back?" she asked in all seriousness. He was silent for a beat.

"Not as many as I would like," he admitted.

"If all else fails, can we just get them out? Even if they have to run, better they be alive."

"That's one option," the Doctor agreed. "One of many."

"But then what about all the others, right?" He closed his eyes. "I know, you've told me before, but I keep coming back to it because it doesn't seem fair."

"How is any of it fair?" he asked. "Look around you, Rose. This entire world we are standing on is not 'fair.' It's people who measure their worth by how many people they will get to stare at their feet and how big of a house they have to serve. It's people who were conned or forced into servitude because they had been desperate enough to try and change lives. Sometimes you can't save everyone, but maybe, just maybe, you get them to save themselves."

"How do you suppose that'll happen?" she asked, looking out at the barracks.

"Doesn't take much, sometimes it takes a single moment, and then it ripples out."

Rose looked down to her hand. She still felt nothing, but she looked over her shoulder, to the TARDIS parked not too far away. Padra was safe inside. All this time, they had been leading up to this. She didn't know how it would work itself out, but she had this feeling like it would all hit fast, too fast, until she would turn around and it would be over. She didn't know what the outcome would be, but she knew that at some point they would have to go back in there and tell that little girl about it. Already so many lives had been turned upside down, all for one incident. She hoped the Doctor was right, that if one moment in time could make things go from good to bad, it could do it in the opposite direction, too.

The more she thought about Padra, lived to help her get her family back, the more she would think about her own mother and father. Her mother was home, in those far away years, on Earth. She always thought about her this way, or else she would have to think about how, in the strictest sense of time, her mother had been dead for more than three millennia. Her body had become bones that had become ash. No, she wasn't going to think about her this way. Jackie Tyler was alive and well somewhere. Her being alive kept her mother alive, from years and years away.

But her father… Pete Tyler had long been dead, even to her. The only way she knew to keep him alive was with the memories of others, with pictures and stories. Her father was no more than an idea, a man who had died alone in the middle of the street when she had been just a baby. Padra was six, she had memories, real ones that belonged to her, but what would happen if they couldn't get her father back, her mother… They would become as faded as the memories she had of her own dad, until she'd start to wonder if she had made them up. And then one day she would lose them altogether. She didn't want her to have to go through that.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" she had looked around, hoping to see something, anything that would tell her they could get moving, so they didn't have to keep standing here.

"I don't think very long at all," he told her, just as she spotted Crin dashing across the empty grounds, signalling for them to come forward.

"No, but we can't go in there, we said…" Rose shook her head.

"They know that," the Doctor had told her, which was to say 'so that means we don't have a choice.' He took her hand and she ran with him, up to Crin who led them back to the barracks.

"I'm sorry, but you'll be safer in here where we can hide you. The guards will be coming through here, routine inspection. They don't take counts, they don't know our faces, our names. If they come in while we're still there, act like you belong," she instructed just as they passed the door and found themselves inside the barracks.

"We'll try," the Doctor told her, and if he was stunned, then Rose was disheartened, seeing where they were. It was hard not to feel like they would stick out among these people. The two of them had not been molded to obey. So many of them looked like they barely ate enough to stay on their feet, others looked like they might have been doing the work of two men, if not three. There were beds everywhere in the large structure, and just as many people.

"Rose," Eree came up to them. "This is your friend I assume?"

"You assume correctly," said the Doctor.

"Then these will interest you as well," he turned and pointed.

Sitting on one bed, the man was inspecting the woman's foot, which looked to have taken a burn. It took no more than seconds for them to see the girl's smile in one, her eyes in the other. They had found Peter and Renna.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	23. Home Someday

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**23. Home Someday**

_Bolter City Staff Quarters, inside barracks – in the year 5104_

The arrival of the two strangers had caused little to no stir. Most everyone was too tired to bother, while the others might have assumed they were there in an official capacity, looking the way they did, so they didn't want any trouble.

Fen had been dispatched to bring Peter and Renna forward and to somewhere about as isolated as they could expect to find in this place. The others were staying near the door, just in case trouble did come along, like the guards. Renna walked with a limp, minding her burned foot, but her husband was there to support her. They looked to the man and the girl, wondering as much as any of them would who they were and what they wanted with them.

"Let's all come over here so we can a nice chat, yes?" the Doctor spoke calmly, opening his hand to reveal a thin gold chain with a pendant in the shape of a sphere. Renna had gasped, while Peter looked ready to jump on the man.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, staring at the Doctor.

"From a little friend who wanted to find her parents," the Doctor told him.

"We're here to help. I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor," she introduced them.

"I don't care who you are until you tell me what you're doing with that, it belongs to…" Peter stopped himself short.

"To your daughter, yes. I thought you might need some proof," the Doctor explained.

"Where is she, where's Toh?" Renna had finally asked.

"We have reason to believe this man Toh is dead. He had put the girl in the care of a trusted friend, while he tried to procure transport. He never returned."

"He wouldn't abandon her," Renna quickly insisted.

"Which leads to the 'dead' hypothesis. This person took care of your daughter. She was a friend of mine, so I offered to help, we both did," he looked to Rose.

"Where is my daughter?" Peter asked.

"She is safe, and I think for now it's best her location is kept unspoken."

"How do we know we can trust you?" he wasn't convinced just yet.

"That's all on you to decide, if you do or if you don't. We have come this far, with the purpose of reuniting the three of you, and from what we know of your… situation, so far, I would say you do need some help. Well here we are." No one spoke for a moment until Renna gave a small sob.

"We had no idea, you have to understand," she spoke. "They could have asked for anything we owned, for our house, but they wanted her."

"Yes, and they have gone to great lengths to get her back. They had the two of you to repay the debt, so why go after the girl?" the Doctor asked the question he had wanted to ask for so long. Peter and Renna looked to one another.

"Who knows why these people do anything they do?" Peter shook his head.

"You say you're here to help, does that mean getting us out of Bolter City?" Renna whispered.

"That is the plan. You know what needs to happen first, unless you want your daughter to have to run her whole life. We need to see this man Corder." At the mention of his name Renna's leg buckled and her burned foot touched ground, making her groan and lean on her husband. "He do that to you?" the Doctor guessed.

"I'd have killed him if he dared to reprimand her in front of me," Peter's face turned sour.

"Please, don't say anything like that," his wife begged, taking his arm. "I'll be fine."

"Enough to face him?" Rose asked.

"For my daughter, I will," she promised, standing back on her own.

"What about them?" Peter asked, indicating the rest of the slaves in the barracks. "There are more structures like this, around this city and the rest of them on this world, and other worlds as well, filled with others just like them."

"There are only two of us, and this is not what we have come here to do," the Doctor remained firm. He could have gone further to explain what they could or couldn't do and why, but they were pressed for time as it was.

"But if we are freed, then we could…" Peter started, and the Doctor stopped him.

"There are people out there looking for your daughter, a six-year-old child, and they are willing to eliminate anyone who stands in their way. I know you know more than you'll let on, and I could get it out of you if I had the time or need for it, but I don't. What I do know is that with all these people looking for her, there should be people looking out for her, now who better than her parents?"

Peter had said nothing, but all at once he had pulled away and walked off across the barracks. Rose had seen him go first, and while Renna was about to go after him, injury or no, she stopped her. "It's alright, I'll go after him," she nodded, dashing after the man.

"You take a seat right here now," the Doctor got Renna to sit. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you," she sighed. He held out the chain to her, and she took it, trying to hold down her tears. She ran her index along the chain, the sphere… "We gave this to her last year. She said she'd never take it off, and she meant it," she smiled to herself. She had not gotten to hold her daughter in far too long.

"You give it back to her when we get you out of here," the Doctor told her, and she closed her hand around the sphere.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	24. Sins of the Father

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**24. Sins of the Father**

_Bolter City Staff Quarters, in the barracks – in the year 5104_

As much as the man had bolted off, Peter wasn't going to get very far if he expected to find a hiding place. The best he could hope for was a corner to stop at and be alone in. He had known someone would come after him, no matter how much he didn't want them to, but he hadn't expected the stranger girl.

"Please, could you just…" he tried to wave her off.

"I know we don't know each other. But I've gotten to spend some time with your daughter. She's a great girl," she played on the memory of Padra to get him talking, and it worked.

"She is."

"We can get you back to her."

"Maybe she shouldn't get me back. Maybe she's better off without," he shook his head.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Rose blinked. "She loves you. She was willing to put herself in harm's way if it meant finding you. She doesn't take no for an answer." He let out a breath, and Rose could swear he was going to cry.

"She deserves more than someone like me then."

"You're her father, sh…"

"Yes, yes, I'm her father," he raised his voice and she jumped. "But I still went through with the deal," he came up to her, wanting to look angry so maybe she would leave him alone. Instead he had reminded himself of that moment, and he looked as though he was deflating. "And I was going to let them take her. If Renna hadn't… I would have let them take her. My little girl, my sweet child, gone, regardless of…" He turned away, and Rose felt like her heart was being twisted. "If your father did that, would you have wanted him back?"

"My father is dead," she said simply, and Peter looked back at her. "I never knew him. But she knows you, and she could grow with you there. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"What I want and what I deserve are two very different things. I got what I deserved," he looked around the barracks. "But Renna… Renna, she stood up against them, and against me. Now she has to be in this… this hell, serving a man who takes pleasure in seeing her hurt. If you want to save someone, then you save her. Leave me here."

"Peter, you can stay here and beat yourself up for as long as you live, or you can do something, fix what you can. Your daughter has so much life ahead of her, give her something to be proud of," she couldn't take the soft approach anymore. He remained silent. "Say we did get you out of here, all of you, and you got to have your daughter back safe in your arms. Would you let them have her this time? Or would you keep her safe?"

"I'd never let them lay a finger on her," he took a breath.

"Then the safest place for her is with you."

"Corder will never let us go," Peter shook his head; he agreed with her now, finally, but he had to be realistic, too.

"You'd be surprised. The Doctor can be very convincing. He might even have this man thinking it was his idea by the time he's done. All you have to think about is her."

Renna was thinking about her, too, more so now than ever. She almost hadn't allowed herself to, ever since they had brought her here. She knew there was every chance she would never see her daughter again. If Toh did his job right, he would have taken her as far as far could be. But now she was close, she had to be. She might well have been right here in Bolter City. She could almost feel her.

"Doctor?" she asked. "That's… That's your name, is it?"

"It is," he nodded.

"Will you take me to her? To my daughter?"

"It's not safe, not until we are free to get you out of here," he told her.

"She'll need me, please," she begged. The Doctor came and sat with her.

"She is stronger than she seems. I think she gets that from you. But you need to be strong a little while longer," he insisted.

"Is she hurt at all?" Renna asked.

"Safe and sound, just as you wanted her to be. I'm sorry about your friend."

"Toh was more than a friend, he was practically family, he… he served us," she shook her head. "We treated him better than this," she promised. "When he first came to us, he was ill and we treated him, nursed him back to health. In thanks, he offered his services to us."

"Doctor?" Jon asked, standing near the windows. The Doctor excused himself from Renna and went to him. "How long before we go to Corder? If we do not move soon…"

"When Rose returns with the father, we can go. I don't want to wait much longer either," he tapped the boy on the shoulder before turning back to Renna… and finding she was gone. He looked around just in time to catch sight of the door swinging back shut. "Who's watching the doors?" he moved toward Bells and Crin.

"We were, but…" Bells shook her head.

"The guards…" the Doctor moved toward the doors.

In the time it had taken for him to grasp the handle and pull the door open, he'd heard the loud sound of the shots, and found Renna already laid out on the ground just outside the barracks.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	25. One Down

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**25. One Down**

_Bolter City Staff Quarters, inside barracks – in the year 5104_

The sound of gunfire had put everyone on alert, and it sent them in motion. Jon had bolted through the door, which had forced Bells to hold back Crin from going after him. The brothers had gone to stand by, making sure the boy would be able to return unharmed as he pulled Renna back inside the barracks.

"Everyone give them space!" Bells called out, seeing how many of the others were pooling in to see what had happened.

"Are you hurt?" the Doctor asked Jon as he stood back.

"Yeah," he replied, out of breath.

"Good. That was a stupid thing you did, now don't do it again." The Doctor went and crouched by the woman on the ground. He barely had the time to observe her before he heard them coming.

"Let me through!" Peter could be heard.

"Make way!" Rose was with him. The Doctor looked up to Eree and Fen, shaking his head. Eree would move to intercept, hoping they might get a chance to tell him what happened before he saw her lying there, but Peter had already cut through and bypassed the man. "Where's my wife, wh…" When he saw her, the Doctor was almost sure Peter would pass out. His face had lost all its color and he could have faltered and lost his footing at any second.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told him, his eyes catching Rose not far behind; she had seen Renna as well. He went to her, while Peter went to his wife. He crouched by her side, touching her face, taking her hand, trying to reassure her. He couldn't even comprehend that she was already gone.

"What happened?" Rose asked, stunned.

"She slipped by us," Jon told her.

"She wanted to see her child," the Doctor looked on to the man holding on to his wife.

Rose hadn't even thought of Padra yet. They had only ever wanted to give her back her parents, her family. And now her mother was dead. What were they supposed to tell her?

"The guards will come through here now. They'll take her away," Crin told them.

"We need to get out of here before that happens," Bells joined in.

"Can't we give him a moment?" Rose pointed to Peter.

"We could. But we could also try and get this child one parent back," Bells cut to the chase. "We've already got more problems than we had two minutes ago."

"That being?" the Doctor asked, and Bells nodded to the windows.

"They'll have sealed the gates around staff quarters, and with the guards out there, this door is as good as sealed, too."

"That means we're cut off from the TARDIS as well," Rose realized. She hadn't even noticed the Doctor walking off to the center of the room until he'd stepped up on one of the beds, addressing all the slaves below.

"There will be guards coming here any moment now. A woman is dead. We need your help to get her husband back to their child."

"Take the tunnels, they won't have closed those," a woman's voice was heard from somewhere in the crowd. "There in the corner."

"Thank you," the Doctor hopped off the bed and dashed for the corner. He found the door in the floor, pulling it back to reveal stairs that went underground. He ran back to the rest of his group. "The five of you now, if you have any doubts about going forward, this would be the time so say it. Once we go down into those tunnels, there is no turning back."

"We will come," Eree declared, his brother nodding with him.

"Us, too," Crin looked to Bells.

"Yes," she said.

"Jon?" the Doctor asked. "I assume you will be following as well."

"I am," the boy promised, then after a pause, "But I'm staying when it's done," he announced.

"What changed your mind?" the Doctor observed him. There had been something about him that had changed, from when he'd spoken to him earlier, and he hadn't had time to ask after it.

"Masha is pregnant," Jon told him; he didn't need to explain any further. He knew this would be his child, no matter how it happened. And he couldn't just leave, whether or not the child knew he was its father, or whether the pregnancy would even be carried to term. He was giving up his shot at freedom on a chance.

"What will happen to the rest of them, after we go?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"If they behave, I'd say nothing," he shrugged.

"Will they behave?" she wondered, looking around. There was no way of knowing, and they couldn't stay and find out. This was a recurring theme for them.

The Doctor moved back to Peter, who was still sat on the ground, whispering to his dead wife as he held her. When he sensed someone approaching, he looked up.

"Was this me? Did I make this happen?" Peter asked, weeping.

"We need to go now. Your child is waiting for you." He hoped the mention of Padra would raise him out of his stupor. Peter had pulled his hand away from his wife's, and the Doctor saw he now held the golden chain with the sphere. He kissed Renna's brow before letting her rest gently on the ground. Fen would help him get back on his feet.

The Doctor, Rose, Peter, and the five slaves had gone through the parted crowd, and by the time they had reached the stairs, they could see the rest of the slaves had closed the gap, the better to hide them, should the guards enter before the trap door was closed again.

Maybe this would work out better for them. The tunnels were meant to give the slaves the means to enter the houses they served without being seen going toward them. They would lead them right into Corder's house, without being seen. They could also end up being trapped, cornered, and surrounded.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	26. Waiting on the World

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**26. Waiting on the World**

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

When Sugar had walked into the home economics class that day, part of her had expected to find the desk empty. It was Ginny's last day in her post for that class, she knew; she'd heard their teacher was coming back next week. Maybe she wouldn't even bother showing up for the last one, or something would keep her away… that seemed to be the way things went with her.

But then there she was, at her desk, eyes fixed to her computer screen like she was reading. There was a smile on her face.

"Something funny?" Sugar asked, coming up to the desk. Ginny looked up, casually reaching up to close the laptop, though it almost felt to her like she didn't want her to see.

"Cat video, don't tell anyone," she smirked, whispering in confidence.

"Oh, the one that barks like a dog?" Sugar got caught up for a moment.

"No, but maybe I'll check it out," Ginny chuckled. "While I've got you here," she held up a finger and reached in her bag. She pulled out a folded sheet and held it out to her student.

"What's that?" Sugar asked, unfolding it.

"I submitted your extra credit work, I thought you might like to have the proof to keep." Sugar smiled, folding the sheet back and looking to the substitute. "I know I wasn't there as much as I should have been, but the only one who should be penalized here is me."

"Thanks," she put the sheet between the pages of her book.

"Go on and take a seat, we'll start soon. Last day for me here."

"I know, I heard. Do you think you'll keep teaching here?"

"Oh, I can guarantee it," Ginny smirked. Sugar went to find her seat, a confused frown getting a hold of her as she replayed her last statement, everything else…

There was still something odd about the woman. Even days and days after meeting her, there was just this feeling she couldn't quite shake. Things she said, things she did, made it seem to Sugar like she was hiding something and, as much as she had to respect that Ginny was a teacher and she was a student and it created a divide, and she shouldn't expect to know everything. But there was a difference between keeping things to yourself and actively trying to prevent someone from knowing something. The substitute was strange, that much was clear, but Sugar had come to know her better than that, or she thought she did. Normally it shouldn't have mattered; Ginny was a teacher, so why should she care, right?

She had definitely improved as far as her ease in the classroom. Sugar remembered her on the first day; she looked like she had never taught a day in her life, like she had just been thrown into the position and she was scared out of her mind. She knew she probably would be, too, if she'd been in her place, if that was the case.

"Alright, guys, how would you feel today about a competition?" Ginny had called the class to attention, and the word had the desired effect, waking their curiosity or, in some cases, simply waking them.

"Come on, it's not even lunch yet," Sugar had no problem nudging her desk mate awake.

"What?" he blinked, confused.

"Competition," she indicated the front of the class, and he sat upright.

"I'm ready," he declared, and she rolled her eyes.

"Guys, hey," Ginny clapped her hands together to bring them back to silence. "So how about it, guys versus girls?" she offered, and the students had begun to split off to their sides.

"Just like Glee Club," Sugar told herself as she joined the girls.

The whole thing had come off as something like a relay race, each team having to work through a series of tasks. It made it easy for all of them to stay focused on the task at hand, barely seeing the time go by, closer and closer to the end of the period.

Sugar had been into it in the beginning, cheering her team on, doing her own part of the tasks… But then at one time she had turned and saw Ginny, and she had sort of stopped paying attention to the competition for a moment after that. The substitute looked like she wasn't paying too much attention to the class either. She would look at them, and to the casual observer it might look like she was following the progress of the face-off between the guys and the girls.

But then the first time Sugar had turned and seen her, the impression she got was that Ginny was waiting on something, not the outcome of the competition but something else. Whatever that thing was, Sugar couldn't say exactly where it was meant to be coming from or if it was going to be right then, during class, or later on that day. Maybe she had a date? Throughout the 'competition,' which Sugar had been forced to try and rejoin, all the while keeping an eye on the teacher, Ginny would look at them, or she would look at her phone… At one point she had gone back to her desk to rummage through her bag, which had kept her from seeing one of the boys trying to cheat. Half the girls' team had called him on it, loudly so, but Ginny was still too busy with her bag.

Finally the teacher had looked up and noticed the argument. She had moved in to separate the two teams, declaring that, for both teams' behaviors, there would be no winner. It had ended the period on a downer. The students had started to file out, and Sugar turned back to look at the teacher. Ginny had her bag up on her shoulder, putting the desk back in order before she would leave it for the last time.

If she really did stick around, teach more at McKinley, then she would get to see her again. And if that was the case, then maybe she would figure out what it was about her that was so peculiar.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	27. Last Stand

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**27. Last Stand**

_Bolter City Staff Tunnels – in the year 5104_

They were all eight of them walking through the dimly lit corridors, silent out of respect for the still grieving Peter. The Doctor could see Rose was taken with this system of corridors they had. Each new opening was marked, with shapes and letters and colors. With so many of them, there was no way to make heads or tails of where they were going, not unless they had someone there who could show them the way. Someone could get lost for days.

Peter led them so slowly and silently, down one corridor and then another, left turn, two rights, another left, another right, three lefts… None of the others were saying anything, so they had to assume they were going the right way. Neither Rose nor the Doctor would question Peter's choices.

Then finally they had stopped in front of a door. Peter waved his arm next to it and the door opened, revealing similar stairs as the ones they had taken down from barracks, now going up.

"Corder's house?" the Doctor had to check. Peter bowed his head.

"He's not as frail as he'll let you think he is," he warned; they were the first words he'd said since they left barracks. He was there, but his mind was still playing catch up.

Up from the tunnels, they had filed through the lower levels of Corder's house. Even if they would have all their staff packed off in the barracks, this was somewhere the master of the house would never set foot in unless he had to. It was broken down, but it was kept clean, protected by those who had to live and work their days through. The rooms were chilled, empty during the night hours.

Their biggest risk came with the fact that, in entering through the staff tunnels, they would be announcing their presence. Unless Corder was a deep sleeper, which Peter had confirmed wasn't the case, he would have heard the tone when they came in. What he chose to do with that information was entirely up to him, but for all they knew they could be walking right into a trap.

"From what we know of him, I do not think he will have called the guards," Eree whispered. "He will be more satisfied to face us head on."

He had been right on this. When Peter had taken them up and into the first open room on the main level, they found the man, sitting and waiting in his robe.

"Now, you are one of mine, I know this much. But I do not know them," he indicated the rest of the group around Peter. "The day is done, my boy, don't you have a wife to…"

"She's dead," Peter informed his master, showing the first sign of emotion since he had let go of her hand. Corder sat back, taking in the information.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"Tonight, down at the barracks," the Doctor was the one to reply. Corder gave him a look that was as good as saying 'was I talking to you?'

"Well, I will have to see about replacing her in the morning," he declared, and it made Peter snap. They could see his posture shift, and at any other time they might have intervened before anything was said or done, but under the circumstances they had to wait and see what would happen first.

"If you bring another woman in here, you'll do the same to her as you did to Renna, won't you? Everything you did to her, and to the others, we will not stand for it forever."

"Oh, is that right. I will not have the likes of you in my house, spreading filth about me. Luckily I won't have to, not for much longer," he stood. "The guards have been monitoring the tunnels, they will know you are here. I did not choose this path but now here we are, so what would you have me do? You and your friends, you will be taken to serve out your debts in conditions far worse than any I or any of your masters have ever given you."

"You will have to release me from your service in order to do that," Peter pointed out, and Corder smiled, like some good-hearted old man.

"Yes, I imagine I will," he gestured for him to approach. When he did, Corder clasped his arm, and Peter clasped his, hand to elbow and back again.

As they had stood so close, Peter's owner had been able to whisper at his ear. The rest of them wouldn't be able to hear, although Rose could sense unease in the Doctor. A moment later, Peter had grasped the man by the collar, knocking him into the wall.

"Peter!" Rose cried out, but the man wouldn't budge.

"It's bad enough that she had to be here," Peter spoke loudly, his voice trembling with tears. "That was on me, my fault. But you," he tightened his grip. "She deserved you even less than she did being in this place. How many nights she's cried, and I honestly couldn't know anymore if it was because of being here and missing our child, or if it was because of you and what you did."

"You will never leave this place now," Corder laughed.

"Maybe not," Peter wasn't backing down. "But the world will be a safer place without you in it."

"I can hear the guards," Crin announced. The other four had heard as well.

"Peter…" Rose tried again. He looked back at her. She'd seen that look before, and she didn't like it. She had seen it in the Mercer Colony. It begged her to see Padra safe. It told her to run.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	28. Save One

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**28. Save One**

_Bolter City, Corder's Mansion – in the year 5104_

They were at a standstill. The five slaves who had agreed to help them had turned and now created a barrier against the guards who would be coming along at any moment. The Doctor and Rose stood to the side, waiting for the moment they knew they would have to move. All this depended on Peter, who still held Corder.

Except Peter had given her a message, with nothing but a look. He had told her to get away, to leave him here and take his daughter as far away from Bolter City as she could. He had already lost his wife, and he knew he would never see Padra again, but her safety was the most important thing left in him, and if it meant that he had to let her go, then for once it would be for the right reason.

But she had promised the girl that they would bring her parents back to her, that she would do everything she could, and standing there, with nothing but to leave him to die, it felt like there had to be a way out of it. This couldn't be how her story ended.

The Doctor could see the bigger picture though, as much as it could pain him, and how much he knew Rose might not have been able to see this.

"Rose, we need to go. Now," he moved to take her hand, but she pulled away. He stared at her.

"We can't, what about…" she kept from saying Padra's name in front of Corder, minding what the Doctor had told her earlier.

"Please. Let me go knowing you'll have saved one of us," Peter cut in, and she looked back at him. She knew it was what they had to do, more and more now, but she couldn't make herself move. They had left Nira and her parents this way, without knowing what would have become of them. Now they would have to do the same with Peter, with Bells, Crin, Jon, Eree, Fen… They wouldn't know if they had made it through alive, except for Peter. He would die, not long after they left, if they did leave, and that made it harder than anyone seemed to understand.

"They're coming through!" Jon called, and the Doctor and Rose looked up at the sound of a door being forced open not too far away.

"Rose, we need to go," the Doctor took her hand. She looked back to Peter, hoping maybe for a last minute reprieve, a solution that would appear when everything was at its most dire.

No solution came, only guards, swarming into the room, weapons at the ready.

"What are you waiting for?" Corder called to them, stuck in Peter's grasp. "Shoot him! Shoot them all!"

The five slaves presented their hands, getting down on their knees as one. This was the best way they could help the rest of them, showing they gave no quarrel, that they were unarmed. The Doctor took Rose's hand and got her to crouch down as well, keeping a hold of that hand. The only ones left standing up now besides the guards were Peter and Corder.

"You heard the man," Peter addressed the guards. "I will kill him," he promised.

"Rose, look away," the Doctor spoke softly. She didn't want to, but she did. Only with her head turned, she could still hear them, and all in the space of a moment, three things had happened. She heard Peter speak, for Corder's sake for sure, but still loud enough for her to hear his very last words.

"This is for Renna." Upon hearing the words, Rose had looked back up. In the space of doing this, the third thing had passed: the guards had fired.

She saw them falling, and then she had understood. Peter had turned at the very last moment possible, to ensure that, even though he would still be hit, Corder would be taken down at the same time. Neither man moved, neither man would. They had died together, slave and master.

As the guards had come about, to confirm what they already knew, the Doctor had pulled Rose up and taken her past them, slipping out the door at their only available chance. After they had made sure there were no guards to stand between them and their destination, they had escaped.

They would need to cross back across Bolter City before they could reach the TARDIS. Neither one of them said a single word. The Doctor might have tried, but he could see Rose was stuck in her own bubble, in shock. He still held her hand, and he hoped, at the very least, this would give her some amount of reassurance.

Finally the blue police box was looming ahead of them. For now, it would be impossible to see whether their coming here had done any good at all. They could have gotten away with Padra without ever setting foot in Bolter City. But they'd had to try and get her parents back. Now they had to tell her they really were gone, that after she had lost her dear Toh, her home, everything she'd known, she had lost her parents.

The Doctor opened the doors, and Rose walked in ahead of him. He shut the doors, turned and walked up toward the controls. Rose had gone and sat down, bringing her knees up so she could rest her forehead down a moment. She didn't want to cry in front of Padra.

He would take the TARDIS up and away from Bolter City, first and foremost. But once this was done, they had other things to care about, and all of them concerned a six-year-old girl they'd kept tucked away, safe and dreaming.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	29. Because She Said

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Padra's Run"**

**29. Because She Said**

_Inside the TARDIS_

Padra had remained in bed, sleeping, just as they had left her. Rose sat by her side, looking at her. This day should have ended so differently for her. But now here they were.

"What happens to her now? They'll still come for her now, won't they? Her parents are gone, so they can't pay their debt."

"What do you think?" he came around to the other side of the bed.

"We should hide her. Somewhere, some… when, where they can't get a hold of her."

"First things first," he reached over and placed a hand to her forehead. After a beat, she began to stir and he pulled back.

"Hey, you're alright there," Rose hushed, taking her hand. Finally, she opened her eyes, looking around, finding the two of them there.

"Did I sleep?" she asked, sitting up. "Did you go?"

"Padra, we need to tell you something," Rose slowly started. "You need to be a brave girl now, understand?" she asked, giving her hand a light squeeze. She didn't have to tell her. The child looked from one to the other, like maybe they would tell her she was wrong, but they didn't. "I'm so sorry," Rose told her, moving up closer, and Padra moved to hold on to her. Rose hugged her back, breathing deep.

She had not been able to hold her promise to Padra, but she would hold the one she made Peter. She would be safe.

X

_Shortly after – still in the TARDIS_

They had given her food. Now she sat there, near the controls, eating, watching them. They were talking, looking at a screen together. She was still a bit hazy about what they were looking to do, but at no point did she feel unsafe, or like what they had in mind would end badly for her. She had always known she would be alright. She had believed this would be with her parents, but now she knew otherwise. This didn't change the fact that everything else she had said had come true, so that had to mean that whatever came next, she would end up exactly where she was meant to be.

X

_Three days ago, on the Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104 – Marella's Inn_

When the inn was too busy, packed with customers, Marella would make her hide in the floor in her office. It wasn't as bad as it sounded, though to be honest she much preferred sitting here in the big round booth, where she could look at the people. And she loved the food the innkeeper brought her every so often. She would even let her try a sip of Jade water. Of the nine kinds, some were not to be given to children, but this kind was sweeter, and she liked it a lot, especially the way it would make her tongue green. She was staring at it in the reflection of her spoon when she heard a small laugh.

"What are you doing?" She looked up to find a woman standing by the booth. At least her voice told Padra this was a woman. She wore a robe, the hood keeping her face hidden. Padra dropped the spoon back in her plate.

"Nothing," she gave a short answer. "I don't think I'm supposed to talk to you, Marella said…"

"It's alright, see?" her hands emerged from her sleeves, and she pulled back her hood. She looked young enough, younger than her mother. Padra had not seen the dark brown hair that rested over her shoulder until now.

"You don't look so scary now," she declared.

"Thank you," the woman chuckled. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a minute?"

"Only a minute?" Padra asked.

"I promise," the woman told her. The child considered this for a moment more, but finally she pointed to the seat across the booth from her. The woman went and sat once invited. Padra watched her go the whole time. Everyone else just sort of ignored her. Maybe they figured she was there with someone else, or Marella had told her to leave her alone.

"You're the first person I talked to except Marella… and my friend," she thought of Toh, who had left her here. She hoped he would get back soon.

"Well, that's because I have a message for you."

"You do?" Padra asked, sitting up.

"Yes, but you can't tell anyone about it, do you swear?" She nodded. "There are some people who will come for you very soon." Padra gasped, thinking the worst. "You don't have to worry," the woman promised. "These are good people, I swear, okay?" She nodded again. "I know you've been told to stay here, but you won't be able to. You'll need to go with them. You might get scared along the way, but I can promise you one thing, and that is an absolute, without a doubt, truth."

"What is it?" Padra asked.

"If you go with them, and you do as they tell you, when this is all over, you will be in a good place. And you will be safe. You won't have to run anymore. Understand?"

"Yes," Padra told her; there was something so trusting about her. "Who are you?" she finally asked. The woman smiled, extending her hand across the table. Padra smiled, reaching to shake her hand.

"My name is Gemma. It's very nice to meet you. Your name is Padra, is that right?"

"Yes."

"That's a beautiful name, do you know where it comes from?"

"My mother says it's a kind of sugar, the sweetest. Toh, he calls me 'sweet child.'"

"Well," Gemma stood, reaching to touch the child's cheek. "I'll see you around, sugar." She reached to pull her hood back over her head, walking toward the door. Padra didn't want her to go, she liked talking with her. She got up out of the booth, dashing across the inn and to the door.

"Wait…" She had barely caught a glimpse of her, and then the next second she had disappeared. Her eyes went wide. Gemma had literally disappeared, out of thin air. How could she…

"Padra, get back inside," Marella called to her. She shut the door, running back to her booth, her Jade water and her spoon.

TO BE CONCLUDED (TUESDAY)


	30. But Wait There's More

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Padra's Run"**

**30. But Wait, There's More**

_Phoenix, Arizona – in the year 2001_

They'd had to make a stop at a children's store on the way. For as many clothes as the Doctor had in the TARDIS, finding something right for her to wear had been too much of a stretch. Rose had personally taken care of getting her all set while the Doctor was dealing with everything else. She wasn't too clear on how he knew this woman, Marilyn Kent, but he had said something about 'another time, another me,' which she'd just written off as him being… well, him.

The important part, what she did know, was that this woman worked with social services, and now as Rose led the child in by the hand, they came into the small diner. There was the Doctor, and Marilyn Kent. Behind them, a man and woman had stood. They looked anxious, and when they saw the girl, the woman covered her mouth with her hand, like she was about the cry. The man simply smiled down at her.

"Rose, this is a Mr. and Mrs…" the Doctor turned back to them, and the man stepped up.

"Motta," he provided before coming to crouch in front of the girl. "What's your name, sweetheart?" This made her think of Toh, and for the first time since she had learned of his death, it made her smile.

"Sugar," she declared herself. They'd told her she should come up with something, and this seemed the most appropriate to her. "Am I going with you?" she asked.

"Yes, if that's alright with you?" Mr. Motta still looked so happy to have her there, and after giving Gemma nothing but the innocent faith of a child, she actually did believe what she had said about being in the right place.

"Yes," she smiled.

Before they could all go their separate ways, the Doctor and Rose had been able to get one last moment with the former Padra, for goodbyes, and for safeguards.

"You cannot tell them your real name, do you understand? Not ever. Not your name, nothing about your parents, the Mercer Colony, Bolter City, the Great Jade Moon, and especially the TARDIS."

"But I'm safe now, right?"

"Yes, but you'll be safer if you keep all this to yourself. You keep that secret as close as you can, promise?" the Doctor asked her, and she nodded.

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked, looking at the pair of them, who had come to help her.

"Too early to tell," the Doctor gave her a smile. Sugar had reached up and thrown her arms around his neck. He was taken by surprise, but he held her back. She placed a kiss on his cheek, standing back and moving to do the same with Rose.

"I'm going to miss you," Sugar told her.

"Me too," Rose vowed, cradling the back of her head.

Returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor had found her quiet again. He came around to the controls, to see her face. "Well now, where to?"

"Doctor… I need to ask you something. It… It's about my father."

X

_Lima, Ohio – December 2011_

Her shoes gave a crackling sound every time she took a step, and as she stopped to pull off the robe and stuff it back in her bag, she lifted up her shoe and looked under. "Jade water," she shook her head, pulling the cuff from around her wrist and pushing it into her bag, under the robe. She fixed her hair, checked her clothes, swung the bag back over her shoulder and walked out of the small closet, back into the halls of McKinley High. She took her phone out, dialling the number, waiting.

"It's me. Yes, I know you know it's m… Yes, it's done. All of it… No, no one saw me… No, not even you… Yes, I got that, too," she absently patted at her pocket.

She had been warned about going to retrieve the golden chain with the globe. The scene she had found had been chaos still, even as the slaves who had aided in this event were being led off to be questioned. Seeing the bodies on the ground, the old man and the younger man, the last thing she wanted was to get closer, but she had to do it. She found it still gripped in the younger man's hand.

"Yes, I went to see her, too. Doctor, you realize if you hadn't sent me back there, I wouldn't have needed to make sure she didn't remember me?" At the response, she frowned. "Yes, I know. Look, it's all taken care of with her now, so… Just let me know what to do next?"

She walked on down the hall, and as she passed by the lockers, she had barely managed to see Sugar standing there, throw her a quick smile. She had only just seen her a moment ago, a small thing of a child, but now here she was… In all she had done with and for the Doctor, something like this still baffled her.

"Hey," Artie had come up to Sugar's locker then, and she looked back to him.

"Oh, here, I've got your book, thanks for lending it to me," she handed it to him. He had reached out and just barely kept from dropping the thing; his eyes were elsewhere.

"Who's that you were looking at?" he asked.

"That's the new substitute," Sugar replied, closing her locker. "I told you guys about her, Ginny Harrison? I have to go. See you in Glee Club?" He half waved at her, still looking at the retreating figure of the woman with the dark brown hair. It had been years, but he swore that was her.

"Gemma?"

THE END

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**CHECK OUT THE NEXT STORY IN THIS SERIES  
****_"SALVAGE"  
_****Starting Friday, April 5th 2013.**


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